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The number of people infected with the new Corona virus inside the Roumieh prison, the largest and most populous prison in Lebanon, reached 352, as announced on Wednesday by the Internal Security Forces, while the demands of the prisoners out of need to obtain a general amnesty have recently increased with the outbreak of the epidemic.
Several videos have been disseminated on social media in recent days from inside the prison showing angry inmates asking political forces to intervene by approving a general amnesty, a demand they have always asked for.
The prisoners announced that they were heading to disobedience in case no solution was found to save them from the epidemic.
The General Directorate of the Public Internal Security Force announced in a statement that out of 956 tests, “352 positive cases” appeared and seven wounded were transferred to the hospital to receive the necessary treatment.
The statement indicated that there are also five injured in two other prisons, indicating that “all the injured in the prisons are in stable condition and their health is not dangerous.”
The Lebanese parliament is supposed to meet next week, and a blanket amnesty law is on its agenda, with the increase in cases of the Covid-19 epidemic in Roumieh prison.
Roumieh Prison, located near Beirut, houses some 4,000 prisoners, almost three times its capacity.
Lebanon’s prisons, especially the Roumieh prison, generally complain about a lack of basic services and hygienic conditions.
Dozens of relatives of prisoners carried out this Wednesday and stood in front of the houses of the President of Parliament Nabih Berri and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to demand the approval of a general amnesty in the next session of Parliament, since the project requires a consensus among political forces.
Ibtisam Youssef said: “My son has Corona, he is sick and nobody is looking at him. All the government, ministers, presidents and representatives are looking for help.”
The head of the Bar Association, Melhem Khalaf, warned last week that the outbreak of the epidemic in the prison was a “humanitarian bomb that no one can carry.”
He called for a series of rapid measures to be taken to alleviate the overcrowding, including the signing by President Michel Aoun of a special amnesty that includes specific cases such as cases of illness, for example. He also called on the Judiciary to implement “the release of freedom, except in the case of heinous crimes and major terrorism.”
Lebanon has seen a significant increase in the number of corona cases in recent weeks, especially after the terrible port explosion last month, raising fears about the health system’s ability to continue to respond to and absorb the injured.
As of Tuesday night, the officially announced number of wounded reached 30,838, of whom 315 died.
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