Interior and Municipalities Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq displayed on Thursday photos depicting the riots that took place at Roumieh prison earlier this month, and which led to the detention of a number of security members.
During a press conference, al-Mashnouq stressed that “the problem with the prisons cannot be solved in a short period of time,” adding that the only solution lies in building a prison in every region.
“The Lebanese state will rehabilitate the prisons after the approval of the Finance Minister to allocate an amount of USD 55 billion from the budget to this cause, during the years 2015 and 2016,” he stated, pointing out that the cabinet decided to build a territorial prison with an inmate capacity that can reach between 700 to 800 prisoners.
Commenting on the riots, the minister said that “9% of the inmates were slightly injured during the security operation implemented to control the situation,” adding that 21 of the wounded inmates require medical follow-up.
“Works at Roumieh prison’s bloc B is expected to end within 5 days,” the minister stated, stressing that he will see to it that the riots not to be repeated.
The interior minister said that his ministry is not to be held responsible for the judiciary’s failure to finalize the trials of the Islamist detainees, noting that new administrative measures will be implemented at Roumieh prison in order to restore security.
On another note, al-Mashnouq said that Hezbollah’s arms are part of the Defense Strategy discussed during dialogue sessions, “but not part of the security plan implemented at Beirut’s Southern Suburbs.”
On Friday April 17, prisoners at Roumieh prison’s newly-rehabilitated Bloc D set their mattresses on fire and took a number of guards hostage, forcing the Internal Security Forces’ Riot police units to storm the building.
The riots, according to the inmates, come in response to overcrowding and the implementation of stricter regulations to prevent the smuggling of drugs and weapons to inmates at the prison.
Roumieh prison, which has witnessed sporadic riots and jail breaks, holds almost 5,500 inmates and is known to be the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded jails. Prisoners have been able to communicate outside with mobile phones and security sources have said some are involved in attacks against the state.
To watch Nada Andraos's report, please click on the video above.