Amnesty law goes into effect, former MP released
Lebanon, Local, 1/5/1998

A drug convict and former Lebanese member of parliament was released from prison after a new amnesty law for drug-related crimes went into effect this week, judicial sources revealed Friday.

Yehya Shamas, who represented eastern Lebanon's Baalbek in parliament, was freed Wednesday night after serving three years of the seven year sentence handed to him in June 1996.

Shamas was arrested in 1995 and stripped of his parliamentary immunity to allow for his prosecution. After a year-long trial in which he maintained he was innocent and had been framed, he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to seven years at hard labor.

The controversial amnesty law was approved by the 128-member parliament on December 18 and was later ratified by President Elias Hrawi. It covers drug-related crimes committed before 1996 and increases prison terms from seven to 15 years for offenders beyond that date.

The law also spares some 30,000 fugitives in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley wanted on charges of drug trade.

Shamas was released Wednesday evening from Roumieh prison along with 13 other convicts. Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum said there were around 1,000 drug convicts in jails across the country.

He said their cases were being studied by judicial authorities and that those covered by the amnesty would be released.

Lebanon was a refuge for drug traffickers during the civil war years. The government has been cracking down on the illegal trade and has largely succeeded in recent years.

U.S. President Bill Clinton in November removed Lebanon and Syria from a list of major drug-producing countries.

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