A Lebanese military tribunal has convicted 12 people, including two men who tortured Lebanese prisoners, of collaboration and contact with Israel, the Daily Star reported.
The 12, mainly ex-members of the defunct South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia, were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three weeks to 15 years. The verdicts were handed down late Friday and posted on a court bulletin board Saturday.
According to the Beirut-based paper, Nadim Maroun Helou was sentenced to seven years jail and Shawki Findi Majed received a four-year term for “physically and morally torturing” inmates at Khiam detention center.
The two defendants, who were present in court, were SLA policemen at the Khiam detention center.
The court also sentenced in absentia four ex-militiamen to 15 years in jail with hard labor for serving with the SLA and entering Israel, said the report.
Since June 2000 more than 3,000 people have been sentenced for collaboration with Israel to jail terms of up to 25 years.
But critics said most of rulings were too light for the crimes committed by the militia, which served as proxy to the Israeli occupation army.
Israel's army withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000, leaving in its wake countless minefields, ruined infrastructure and many orphans – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
