Thirty-Six Sentenced In Lebanon For Collaborating With Israel
WASHINGTON & BEIRUT (IslamOnline and News Agencies) - Thirty-six more Lebanese were sentenced by a Lebanese military court for collaborating with Israel, according to a judicial source this past Thursday.
Five of the 36 were already sentenced to 15 years in jail, while one was found not guilty; another was released for having assisted the Lebanese services despite accusations of collaborating with Israelis.
The rest of the 29 were sentenced between one month and five years in prison.
They were charged for illegally entering Israeli territory when they lived in southern Lebanon during Israeli occupation, for participating in the Israeli-allied South Lebanon Army (SLA) and for collaborating with the SLA.
The total number of sentences handed down comes out to 2,211 since June 5th, just two weeks after Israel's retreat from south Lebanon.
According to Beirut papers, a statement by the government commissioner to the military court, Judge Nasri Lahoud, said that the number of former SLA members detained by Lebanese authorities since Israel's withdrawal and up until January 16th came out to 2,929 people.
Out of the total of 2,211 who were put on trial and all of whom were tried in absentia, 11 were sentenced to death and three others to life in prison.
Amnesty International condemned speedy trials claiming that it is a parody of justice that "can in no way help national reconciliation."
Many Lebanese opposition leaders have supported pardoning residents of the former occupied area claiming that their actions were committed due to neglect by the Lebanese state that left them no other option but to deal with Israel.
Other views include that of the Hezbollah movement, which has criticized the sentencing as being too light.
