Lebanese parliament passes sweeping amnesty law to reduce overcrowding in prisons

Lebanon's parliament on Wednesday passed a sweeping and long-awaited amnesty law that should benefit thousands of prisoners and wanted people, in the first legislation of its kind since 1991. The law, which had been a demand of various political factions and a topic of debate for years, aims to reduce prison overcrowding with many inmates awaiting trial for years. The office of the country's parliament speaker announced the "approval of a draft law aimed at granting a general amnesty and exceptionally reducing the terms of certain sentences". Authorities did not immediately announce the number of people that would benefit from the law. According to Imad al-Hout, one of the lawmakers in favour of the bill, the law reduced the sentences of those facing death and life imprisonment to 17 prison years. That is equivalent to 12 years and nine months of actual imprisonment in Lebanon, where a prison year is calculated as nine months. The new law was passed a day after the Lebanese parliament abolished the death penalty, making the country the first in the Middle East to formally end the practice. Read moreLebanon becomes first Middle Eastern country to abolish the death penalty The amnest...