URGENT DONATION FOR BACCALAUREAT EXAM

A young girl, Jennifer N., came to BASSMA's office today in tears complaining about her school's unfair treatment....


read more

Bassma is launching the Easter-Ramadan Foodathon Campaign 2024!


Offer a Food pack, and/or a Hygiene pack, and/or a Bread pack.

 

During these hard times we are going through, solidarity is what matters the most.


Starting $30, you can make a difference in families' lives and draw smiles on their faces.


We count on your generous and precious support!

SOCIAL NEWS back
Thank you Rotary Club Beirut Cedars!
23. Jan 2021
Bassma Communication on Engagement 2020
25. Nov 2020
When President Macron meets few NGOs in ...
02. Sep 2020
UNDP Latest Poverty Assessment Report: 3...
17. Sep 2018
الكل في جريدة لنصنع وطنا
09. Feb 2018
The world's food import bill is rising d...
09. Nov 2017
Weighing the scales of justice for drug crimes
22. Oct 2013

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb

Author: Dana Khraiche

 

BEIRUT: Teary-eyed and terrified, four young girls and boys arrested on charges of drug use sip their juice boxes in the run-down Hobeish police station in Hamra, waiting for their turn to take a drug test.

 

These four are fortunate; the new prosecutor handling their case will likely release them on bail with mandatory weekly drug tests. Others who were detained for the same crime last year are still fighting the justice system over their minor offense.

 

Many lawyers and legal experts argue that the justice system is unfairly treating many young Lebanese, caught possessing drugs, with harsh sentences that often overlook rehabilitation. In the absence of laws that seek to help rather than merely punish offenders, many end up with a criminal record on top of an addiction, especially after spending time in RoumiehPrison.

 

In the past few years, a number of judges and social activists have adopted certain measures to change this reality.

 

Elie was only 18 when he was arrested in the Beirut suburb of Dikwaneh. The police were in the midst of arresting a major drug dealer, a Jordanian national, in an apartment complex in the Metn area at the time.

 

The college freshman was heading to the dealer’s flat when police spotted him and upon searching his pockets discovered a bag containing ecstasy.

 

“I used to take drugs, yes. But I was not a dealer and that’s what I told them [the police] several times when they were handcuffing me,” Elie said.

 

“One of my friends called me when I was in the police car, asking me to get him some and so they immediately thought I was a dealer,” Elie said, shaking his head, recalling how that moment changed his life completely.

 

In Hobeish, where the anti-drug division is located, Elie repeatedly told interrogators that he was not a dealer, but an addict who needed help. Instead of rehabilitation, Elie spent three years in Roumieh Prison waiting for his trial date. The prosecutor for Mount Lebanon eventually sentenced him to five years behind bars.

 

“The judge didn’t even take into account that I was young, in college with good grades, that my mother had passed away months before my addiction began, that my father and brother were absent or the fact that police found nothing when they searched my house,” he said.

 

“I was just a kid when they threw me into prison ... I used to think that the best years of my life were passing me by,” said Elie, who turned 24 weeks after his release in 2011.

 

Click here to read the full article

TERMS & AGREEMENTS
GOT A BRIGHT IDEA? SHARE IT!
Full Name
E-mail
Country
P.O.Box
City
Telephone number
Do you want to receive BASSMA�s Newsletter?
My bright idea
Fill all required fields
submit
cancel
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

 

Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Enter your monthly salary
$
Enter your weekly working hours
hrs
0
0
0
.
0
0
ONE HOUR OF YOUR SALARY
Airtal.
Amlor 5mg.
Amolgal.
Androcur 10.
Augmentin.
Austin.
Bacazyme inj.
Bisoprolol Norman 5mg.
Cal C vita.
Capoten 25.
Cinarin 75 mg.
Cinemet.
Claritine.
Clenil forte.
Coltrate 600.
Coplixol.
Copoclen 25mg.
Depakine crono 500 mg.
Euro fer.
Lipentil.
Marvil 70.
Nazonex
Nexium 40mg.
Prozac 20mg.
Pulmozine
Rabezol 20mg
Risperdal
Seritide 250mg.
Seroxat.
Singular.
Sipriva
Solotik 100mg
Stilnox 10mg
Tavanic 500mg
Toby
Topamax 100 mg.
Venofer 100mg inj.

Get Adobe Flash player

This page requires Flash Player version 10.0.0 or higher.