The ministers of Justice and Interior during their press conference at the rehabilitated Roumieh courthouse on April 21, 2025. (Credit: NNA)
The ministers of Interior and Justice, Ahmad Hajjar and Adel Nassar, inaugurated the courtroom in Roumieh Prison, the largest and most overcrowded detention facility in the country, on Wednesday, in the presence of numerous judges and representatives of the Internal Security Forces (ISF).
The Roumieh court was created under the mandate of former ministers of Justice and Interior, Shaqib Qortbawi and Marwan Charbel, five years after the arrest of around 115 Islamists following the battle of Nahr al-Bared between the army and Islamists in 2007. The building was constructed to solve transportation issues to the Palace of Justice, and its rehabilitation work began in April.
Nassar said that reopening this court would greatly reduce prison overcrowding by accelerating trials of untried detainees.
"It is unacceptable that 67 percent of prisoners are awaiting trial," he said, adding that this state of affairs is contrary to justice, which seeks people to be freed if found innocent. He noted that when this court was operational, it allowed magistrates to issue 583 judgments in 10 months, including 128 releases.
Nassar, however, clarified that the burden of judgments would not only be borne by the criminal courts but by other courts as well, hoping similar measures will be undertaken quickly in other prisons around the country, particularly in North Lebanon.
Hajjar was pleased that the recommissioning of this court was undertaken in less than two months.
"We recommend the creation of a committee composed of representatives from the ministries, bar associations in Beirut and the North, and the gendarmerie, to oversee the launch of judgments in this court," he said.
The Interior Minister stated that untried detainees would be the primary beneficiaries of this measure, as well as the ISF, which solely bears the burden of prison overcrowding.
