UAE authorities release 3 Lebanese men convicted in unfair trial

UAE authorities release 3 Lebanese men convicted in unfair trial

Three Lebanese men recently released from prison in the United Arab Emirates arrived home on Monday.

Lebanese state-media reported today that Mohsen Qanso, Ali Fawaz and Jihad Fawaz arrived at Beirut’s airport Sunday night, where their families received them.

The release came nearly a month after a court in the UAE sentenced one of the Lebanese nationals to life in prison and two to ten years on charges of links to Hezbollah, while five others were released.

In May, Amnesty International blasted the trial as being based on false confessions obtained under torture. “These men were tortured – they were forced into making confessions,” Sima Watling, a researcher for the Britain-based rights group, told AFP at the time.

At the start of Ramadan, in a message to UAE authorities, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil asked for the detainees' release.

 

 

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