MP Ashraf Rifi said he expects the Constitutional Council not to rule on the appeal against the General Amnesty Law within the legal deadline. If so, the law will take effect in the form Parliament passed it.
Rifi explained that October 10 is the final date for the Council to decide on the appeal. If it issues no ruling by October 11, the amnesty law comes into force.
He was asked what the parties would do if the Council’s ruling went against the Free Patriotic Movement’s position. Rifi said he could not get ahead of events and urged everyone to wait for the Council’s decision.
He said he had contacted the Movement. Its reply was that the appeal is partial. It aims to amend certain articles, not to strike down the whole law. In its view, the goal is to correct some provisions, not cancel the law.
Rifi added that we should wait and see whether the Council takes the Movement’s remarks into account. Or it may issue no ruling, and the law will take effect as Parliament passed it.
On the judiciary’s start of implementation, Rifi noted that everyone has seen the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation take action. Preparations are under way for the law’s entry into force. He said a mechanism has been set up to start work immediately in all Lebanese regions.
Asked whether a batch of detainees could be released soon, Rifi said things will move quickly.
