Beddawi Residents Protest against Release of Enemy ‘Collaborators’

Hundreds of residents of the Beddawi camp near the northern city of Tripoli blocked on Friday the international road in protest against what it called was the release of “enemy collaborators”, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the residents were protesting the release of “collaborators, while Islamist detainees were still kept in custody for over four years without trial.”

The residents slammed the alleged double standards in political and judicial practices in this matter, condemning the “swift release of collaborators, such as retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam.”

No security incident was reported at the protest that was monitored by the army and security forces.

Roumieh prison inmate Sheikh Khaled Seif spoke to the protesters via telephone, slamming the “oppression” the prisoners are being subjected to seeing as they have been arrested without trial.

“We have not committed any criminal act … while the collaborator has betrayed the entire country, which is grand treason,” he added.

He wondered how an individual “who has resulted in so many murders against his fellow Lebanese would be released from prison so soon.”

“Where is the role of the political and judicial authority in this issue?” he asked.

“Enemy collaborators are released from jail, while freedom is barred from the sons of Tripoli and Akkar,” he declared.

The residents demanded the release of Seif, wondering how his action can be compared to that of someone who betrayed his country.

They vowed to continue on blocking the international road and stage weekly sit-ins in protest against the ongoing imprisonment of the Islamists.

“We will escalate our actions and we will no longer accept the double standards. The judiciary must issue its verdicts and release the innocent, who have been labeled as Islamists,” they added.

NNA later reported that a clash broke out in the area of Bihsas in Tripoli when youths attempted to remove a poster congratulating Karam on his release and demanding that Islamist inmates be executed without trial.

It said that as the youths attempted to take down the poster, another group of youths tried to stop them and a clash using sharp weapons ensued.

Security forces arrived at the scene and arrested the perpetrators.

Earlier this week, retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam was released from jail following a two-year stint in jail on charges of collaborating with Israel.

In January, Speaker Nabih Berri had criticized the reluctance of the judiciary to try a large number of prisoners detained at Roumieh prison.

Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying that 50 percent of the inmates in Roumieh haven’t been tried yet.