The government commissioner at the military court, Judge Fadi Akiki, has charged 35 young men detained during recent protests in Tripoli, Lebanon, as well as those who had been released, with terrorism and theft.
According to the National News Agency, Deputy Rola Tabesh tweeted that the military's charges against the group of protestors in Tripoli regarding living conditions are "a systematic reinforcement of the suppression of any genuine social protest and a systematic cover-up of the actual criminal acts of another privileged group." Tabesh added that "having summer and winter on the same surface is a fuse for social and political explosion, so beware of igniting it."
A number of the detainees' families, alongside groups of activists, gathered outside the military court to demand the release of the detainees, amidst strict security measures from the security forces and the Lebanese army. Protestors blocked the road in front of the court in both directions, leading to limited confrontations with the security forces.
Lawyer Ali Abbas, from the Popular Observatory for Combating Corruption and one of the representatives of the detainees, explained that they came to the military court to review the bail requests they had previously submitted, only to be surprised by a new charge from the government commissioner at the military court, Fadi Akiki, against the detainees and those released regarding the crimes of terrorism and theft of the council's gate.
Abbas revealed that the case has entered a new phase, stating that there is no time limit for detention. He added that the penalty for the charges can reach death or hard labor, indicating that the detention will be prolonged.
Abbas considered the case to be taking a dangerous turn as the charges have included everyone with the same accusations, despite the fact that there are innocent detainees who were not present at the protests. He noted that charges should, for example, have been directed toward individuals proven to have thrown incendiary bottles. According to Abbas, there are 17 detainees, while the case involves 35 individuals, asserting that those who were released will be summoned to listen to them regarding the new charges, indicating that they could be detained again.
