Lebanon Sentences 89 more for \'Collaboration\' with Israel

Published December 16th, 2000 - 02:00 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

A Beirut military court sentenced 89 people to up to two years in prison Saturday as it continued to prosecute more than 2,000 Lebanese for "collaborating" with Israel during its 22-year occupation of the country, a judicial source said. 

One woman, Huda Ibrahim Mansur, was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison and fined one million Lebanese pounds (about 670 dollars) for having traveled to Israel. 

Another 88 people were sentenced to between three weeks and three years in jail, mostly for entering Israel or for assisting the South Lebanon Army (SLA), Israel's proxy militia in the zone before the Jewish state pulled out in May. 

Most of those sentenced Saturday were handed less than a year in prison. 

The court's latest round brings to 1,949 the number of Lebanese tried for "collaboration" since June 5, out of a total of more than 2,200 people who have been accused. 

The court has so far sentenced 11 people to death and three others to life in prison, all in absentia. 

Three former SLA members have died in prison, and Amnesty International has denounced the conditions in which suspects are being held and alleged that some of them have been tortured. 

The human rights group has denounced the mass trials as a "parody of justice." -- BEIRUT (AFP) 

 

 

© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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