Lawyer Nizar Saghieh warned of serious risks in the general amnesty bills. He is the executive director of Legal Agenda. He criticized the amendments and the process around the law.

On the surface, he said, the law looks like a humanitarian fix for the prisons crisis. In reality, it hides major “tricks.” Their aim, he argued, is to spare people involved in corruption and financial crimes from punishment.

The first deception: a “Trojan horse”

Saghieh said the push to help Islamist detainees was used as a “Trojan horse.” Prison overcrowding is a real problem. Yet he said this fair humanitarian goal makes up only about 1% of the law’s content.

The largest provision benefits people who are not in prison. They have no link to overcrowding or to Islamist detainees. It covers banking crimes, illicit enrichment and widespread corruption.

The second deception: amnesty as the rule

The second trick makes accountability the exception and amnesty the general rule. The wording is vague, he warned. As a result, anyone can escape prosecution by raising procedural objections and exploiting loopholes in the exceptions. He noted that the same tactic once stalled trials through lawsuits against judges.

The third deception: changes after the vote

The biggest surprise, he said, came after the sessions ended. Changes were made to the text. Saghieh said he spotted about seven major alterations and forgeries. The main ones are:

  • Removing the exception for all public sector corruption crimes.
  • Removing the exception for illicit enrichment crimes.
  • Canceling all disciplinary decisions against employees, judges and police officers.

Many countries require the “return of looted funds” before granting amnesty for corruption, Saghieh added. He asked why no such strict conditions appear here.

A dangerous crossroads

He closed by saying Lebanon stands at a dangerous crossroads. One option is to let the law push the country back into decades of “lawlessness and injustice.” The other is for the Constitutional Council to take full responsibility and strike down these abuses. That would restore hope in real institutions that support the move toward democracy and justice.