Syria’s Justice Ministry announced the release of 57 Syrian detainees held in prisons in Damascus and Homs (central Syria) who had been transferred from Lebanon.
In a statement on Wednesday, October 28, the ministry said the Public Prosecution had begun release procedures for detainees covered by Lebanon’s general amnesty law.
The ministry said the measures were part of the implementation of the prisoner transfer agreement signed between Syria and Lebanon, and continued efforts to follow up on the situation of Syrians detained abroad.
Judge Namour Ahmad al-Nemer said the ministry had received a letter from Lebanon’s public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation containing a list of detainees transferred from Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Constitutional Council upheld the amnesty law on October 12 after rejecting a challenge filed by lawmakers from the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, led by Gebran Bassil.
However, the council’s ruling did not allow all the law’s provisions to take effect. It struck down parts of some provisions and imposed binding interpretations on others.
Prisoners End Strike in Lebanon
Hundreds of prisoners in several Lebanese prisons, including Syrian detainees, ended an open-ended hunger and medication strike on October 12 after 30 days. Their decision followed the Constitutional Council’s ruling on the challenge to the general amnesty law, although some prisoners were disappointed by its interpretations of certain provisions.
Around 600 prisoners had entered their second month on strike to protest the suspension of the general amnesty law. The number of striking prisoners in critical condition had risen to 77, according to a spokesperson for prisoners in Lebanon, who requested anonymity.
The spokesperson told Enab Baladi that the decision to end the strike came after the fate of the general amnesty law became clear. He noted that some prisoners were disappointed by certain interpretations issued by the Constitutional Council.
He said those interpretations affected the substance of several provisions and effectively amended them, rather than simply clarifying how they should be applied.
Agreement to Transfer Syrian Prisoners
Syria and Lebanon signed an agreement on February 6 to transfer convicted Syrian prisoners from Lebanese prisons to Syria.
The agreement was signed in Beirut in the presence of Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, and Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar, alongside an official Syrian delegation.
Al-Wais described the agreement as an important step toward justice, noting that it addressed the situation of convicted Syrian prisoners in Lebanon.
Mitri said Beirut intended to hand over more than 300 Syrian prisoners to Damascus under the agreement between the two countries.
He said the Lebanese cabinet had approved an agreement with Damascus providing for the transfer of convicted prisoners to complete their sentences in their home country.
He explained that the agreement covered prisoners who had served more than 10 years as calculated under Lebanon’s prison sentencing system, equivalent to approximately seven actual years.
On June 24, the Syrian government received a second group of Syrian prisoners convicted in Lebanon, comprising 128 prisoners, under the prisoner transfer agreement.
This followed the arrival of the first group on March 17, comprising 136 convicted prisoners held in Roumieh Central Prison and other Lebanese prisons. The transfer took place under the direct supervision of Syria’s Foreign Ministry, in coordination with the ministries of Justice and Interior.