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Lebanon Turns Down
Red Cross Request to See
Geagea in Jail
January 10, 2003
Authorities were reported
Friday to have turned
down a request by the
international Red Cross
to see Lebanese Forces
leader Samir Geagea at
his prison cell in the
Defense Ministry compound
in Yarze. The report by
As Safir suggested the
request was made by the
Beirut branch of the all-Swiss
International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC)
in recent days but was
quickly rejected by judicial
and security authorities.
It was the first reported
time that the ICRC has
made such a request, which
is obviously motivated
by reports of maltreatment
in jail.
Geagea's wife and defense
attorneys have often complained
about his appalling prison
conditions, saying he
is held in solitary confinement
in an underground cell
with no fresh air or sunlight.
He is denied newspapers,
radio and a TV set.
His release requires a
special pardon by the
president of the republic
or a new general amnesty
voted by parliament. Neither
seems forthcoming in the
foreseeable future.
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