Relatives of the Islamists detained in Lebanon’s troubled Roumieh Prison staged a protest on Friday throughout the northern city of Tripoli to demand the release of the Fatah al-Islam inmates.
The National News Agency reported that the rally was also attended by the founder of the Salafist Movement Sheikh Dai al-Islam Al-Shahhal and a number of other religious figures, while Islamist Sheikh Hamza Qassem communicated with the protesters from within the jail via phone.
Qassem and the other Islamists requested “issuing fair provisions and releasing the innocent.”
Another Sheikh quoted Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel as saying in a previous televised interview that “the reason behind the delay in prosecuting the Islamists is the absence of a court room.”
The same cleric added that “it is now clear to the judiciary that most of the detainees in Roumieh’s Bloc B are innocent.”
The protesters later dispersed their rally as Lebanese army and other security forces deployed to the scene.
Fatah al-Islam detainees in the Roumieh Jail have been the center of controversy over the past months, with many foiled escape attempts and accusations of killing other inmates.
The head of the Fatah al-Islam detainees was indicted in January for the murder of Palestinian Ghassan al-Qandaqli, who was found beaten to death in his cell.
