A group of Dinnieh suspects on Friday night shouted slogans against Lebanese judicial authorities as they appeared before the Judicial Council, the highest judicial court in the country. As the court was convening, 27 suspects held state prosecutor Adnan Addoum and the Judicial Council to blame for an open hunger strike they were observing in protest at their continued detention, and at being âoppressed and slammed in tight spaces without any careâ for their human rights.
| Oh, man, this barbecue is way more than I can eat... |
The court session scheduled for Friday was later postponed due to detainee Omar Rifai suffering an acute heart attack, which followed his hunger strike.
| Did he die from it? It'll cut the court costs if he did... |
One of the defense attorneys for the accused, Akram Khodr, told reporters that 12 of the 27 had started a hunger strike about 20 days ago while others had started three days ago. The strike was in protest at the detainees being banned from observing religious rites, he said, and being kept in closed confinement and having to sleep standing up. The suspects are being tried for carrying out an armed insurrection on New Yearâs Eve in 1999 in the Dinnieh area in the North. |