General amnesty proposal: A path to prison reform or a gateway for criminal release?

Report by Maroun Nassif, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

The National Moderation Bloc long advocated for a general amnesty law to alleviate overcrowding in Lebanon’s prisons. 

In collaboration with MPs from the Lebanon Renewal Bloc, the bloc recently submitted a draft law for urgent consideration. 

However, the proposal has sparked controversy due to a hidden clause in Article 4, significantly reducing sentences for severe crimes.  

Under the proposed law, the death penalty and life sentences with hard labor would be commuted to 15 years in prison. Similarly, sentences of 15 to 20 years of hard labor would be reduced to 10 years. Other sentences would be decreased by a third.  

The implications of such reductions have raised alarm. For instance, Ahmed al-Assir, convicted of killing Lebanese Army officers and soldiers and sentenced to death alongside life imprisonment, could benefit under this law. 

Having been imprisoned since August 15, 2015, and with Lebanese law counting one prison year as nine months, al-Assir has effectively served 12 years and four months. If the proposed law passes, he could be released in just 23 months—less than two years.  

The draft law extends the amnesty to all individuals involved in crimes, including perpetrators, accomplices, instigators, and those harboring fugitives. It would also eliminate pending public prosecution, surveillance orders, and provisions against these individuals.

The proposed law also drops security letters, investigation documents, subordination, circulars, and statements, including letter 303.  

Exemptions to the proposed amnesty would apply to specific crimes, though the draft does not elaborate on their scope.  

While the proposed law addresses the urgent need for faster trials and reducing prison overcrowding, which has reached a staggering 330%, it has raised questions about whether the Lebanese Parliament would approve such a law, especially one that could lead to the release of high-profile criminals. The decision now rests with the Lebanese Parliament.