Detainees Riot at Baabda Justice Palace
Several detainees armed with knives and sharp objects rioted inside a Justice Palace courtroom in Baabda on Wednesday amid reports that two of them have escaped.
The riot erupted after the judge heading the trials of the fourteen suspects, who were transferred from Roumieh prison, suspended the session over his failure to keep order in the criminal court.
LBC TV said murder suspect Hussein Hammoud set off the riot by breaking the windows of the courthouse.
The National News Agency reported however that two other suspects, G. Zoaiter and A. Younis, started the riot and the rest of the suspects joined them.
The prisoners began to inflict self-harm by the broken glass, forcing the judges and families out of the courtroom.
LBC said Judge Dany Shrabieh began negotiating with them to hear their demands after they asked to talk with someone from the prosecutor’s office. Shrabieh was later joined by Judge Claude Karam.
According to the National News Agency, two prisoners managed to escape.
It added that the prisoners were returned to Roumieh prison despite attempts by their families, who were at the scene, to obstruct their path.
The injured were treated on the scene by the Red Cross and none of them were transferred to hospitals as some of the families had reported.
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