Rifi: Islamists' Trial in Roumieh Has Made Major Progress

Minister of Justice Ashraf Rifi on Monday committed himself to speed up the trials of the Islamist prisoners in Roumieh jail, amid political appeals to the judiciary to finalize this file on hope that it may reflect positively on the case of the kidnapped soldiers.

“Justice stops all kinds of chaos, violence and revenge; organizes the relationship between citizens and their government; and protects their rights, dignity and citizenship,” Rifi said in a statement addressed to the judicial authority on the occasion of the new judicial year.

He explained: “The judicial body has put a lot of efforts to reach these goals.”

“We should put more effort to this, since the Lebanese citizens have the right to have the judicial body we all aspire for,” he added.

Rifi said he believes that “expediting and finalizing the trials – such as the trial of Roumieh's Islamists which has made major progress – will only reflect that this institution is one of the major guarantees that have contributed to protecting the state's institutions.”

“We will all seek to further strengthen the judiciary and enforce it, side by side with the judges, to perform our duty of rising to the needed level of responsibility,” the minister added.

On Sunday, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat asked Rifi to explain why the trials have not been held yet, saying that the excuse of the lack of courtrooms is no longer valid since they have been complete for a while now.

Extremists from the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front had kidnapped 35 soldiers and policemen during clashes with the Lebanese army in the Bekaa town of Arsal in early August. They are reportedly asking for the release of Islamist prisoners from Roumieh in exchange for the Lebanese hostages.

Z.A.

Y.R.