Tripoli sit-in: Ashraf Rifi warns of 'prison time bomb ready to explode'

During a sit-in organized by young protesters in the courtyard of the Grand Mansouri Mosque in Tripoli, MP Ashraf Rifi sounded the alarm about the prison situation in Lebanon, denouncing prison overcrowding and the deplorable detention conditions of prisoners, particularly Islamists and foreigners.

"Prisons in Lebanon are no longer a ticking time bomb. The pin has been pulled: They are ready to explode at any moment," he declared, in comments cited by the National News Agency. According to him, the authorities remain blind to this imminent danger. "If officials do not realize that a bomb is about to explode in their hands, it means they completely ignore reality," he said.

Tensions in the prisons in Tripoli were discussed during a security meeting held Friday in Baabda.

'Two-speed justice'

The former justice minister recalled "the earthquake that occurred in Syrian prisons" and its "waves of aftershocks," expressing concern about a similar scenario in Lebanon. He also sharply criticized verdicts handed down against Islamist detainees by military courts: "Some judges have a historic responsibility. One day, they will have to be held accountable."

Rifi called for the law to be applied, notably Article 108 of the Penal Code, which allows for limiting the length of pretrial detention. "Some people have been in prison for several years without ever appearing before an investigating judge," he denounced, referring to the case of more than 200 domestic workers, men and women, detained based on mere suspicions. "They have no lawyer, no support from their embassies. The solution is simple: task General Security with sending them back to their countries," he declared.

The MP finally warned against a two-speed justice system. "We are not defending criminals, but the oppressed. A young person is sentenced to decades in prison for a photo with a weapon, while others traffic Captagon without being troubled. Those days are over. Those who do not adapt to change will soon pay the price."