Sixty Lebanese Sentenced For Collaboration With Israel
BEIRUT (AFP) - Beirut's military court handed down prison sentences Saturday night to 60 Lebanese on charges of "collaboration with the enemy Israel," a judicial source said Saturday.
Two were sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail each while the remaining people were given prison sentences ranging between three weeks and two years, the sources said.
The charges included "collaboration with the enemy Israel, entering Israel or enrollment" in the now-disbanded Israeli-allied South Lebanon Army militia (SLA).
Apart from the sixty, three people were acquitted of collaboration with Israel, while three others had charges dropped because they had collaborated with Lebanese security services during the occupation, they said.
In total, 1,646 sentences have been ordered since the June 5th start of the trial of some 2,200 Lebanese accused of collaborating with Israel before its May 24th withdrawal from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
Most of the former SLA militiamen have been sentenced to jail terms of one to two years in prison, along with a ban of the same duration against visiting the former occupied zone where they used to live.
Some have been found innocent and others, mainly women, have only been fined for going to the "enemy state" of Israel.
After sitting just once a week during the court holiday season, the military court has returned to holding three marathon sessions per week to wrap up the matter.
The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which spearheaded the anti-Israeli resistance, has frequently criticized the lightness of the sentences.
In contrast, several opposition leaders have called for an amnesty for the population of the former occupied zone, saying they were forced to deal with Israel after being abandoned by the Lebanese state.
Amnesty International criticized the trials of SLA members back in June calling them a parody of justice. The international human rights group said such trials "can in no way help national reconciliation" in Lebanon.
