(4 May 2005)
Beirut, 4 May 2005
1. Top shot demonstration
2. Medium shot for demonstrators with pictures of jailed former Christian warlord Samir Geagea
3. Riot police
4. Various of demonstration with banners bearing pictures of Geagea and assassinated former prime minister Rafiq Hariri
8. MP's gathered
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Boutros Harb, opposition MP:
"We are a making a demonstration asking for the liberation of Doctor Samir Geagea who is a political prisoner since 11 years ago. We think that we can't turn the page of the dramatic events in Lebanon if Samir Geagea is still in jail."
10. Setrida Geagea, wife of Samir Geagea among the crowd
11. Security officer
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, woman:
"We shall release Samir Geagea because he is a political detainee and we are also asking for a just electoral law because the 2000 law is not a just and equal law that really deals with no discrimination."
13. Crowd shouting pro Geagea slogans
FILE - (no location specified)
14. Samir Geagea in a rally
15. Still photos of Geagea trial
STORYLINE:
Lebanese opposition demonstrators on Wednesday demanded freedom for jailed former Christian warlord Samir Geagea, as President Emile Lahoud urged parliament to decide on an election law acceptable to all factions.
Gathering near Parliament in Beirut, at least 2,000 flag-waving protesters urged the legislature to act on an amnesty bill that would end Geagea's life term in prison.
Chants of "Freedom for Samir Geagea is freedom for Lebanon" and "Acquittal ... Acquittal ... Geagea, Geagea acquittal" rang out from the crowd.
Geagea has been in solitary confinement, spending most of the past 11 years in an underground cell at the Defence Ministry.
He's the only prominent former warlord to be jailed for opposing Syrian dominance while other ex-militia leaders moved on to benefit from an amnesty for crimes committed during the 1975-90 civil war to become lawmakers and Cabinet ministers.
Geagea, who led the Christian Lebanese Forces militia during the civil war, was arrested in April 1994 after the bombing of a church that killed 10 people.
He was acquitted of the bombing but convicted on other charges. He is serving three life sentences for the assassination of political rivals, including the 1987 bombing of a military helicopter that killed then-Prime Minister Rashid Karami.
Geagea's supporters have long considered him a political prisoner.
The human rights group Amnesty International has called for the release or retrial of Geagea and fellow militiaman Jirjis al-Khoury. Amnesty said last year said that their trial was unfair. The government denies that.
Geagea's imprisonment and the exile to France of another Christian leader, Michel Aoun, have been open wounds for Lebanon's Christian minority since the end of the civil war, but their projected return to the political fray will likely cause anger amongst other parts of the population.
Past attempts to secure a pardon for Geagea and Aoun's return have been stymied by Syrian influence. But Syrian troops completed their withdrawal out of Lebanon last week after intensified international and domestic pressure following the assassination on Feb. 14 of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Aoun's return was scheduled for Saturday.
An amnesty bill also would free Muslim suspects in jail for several years awaiting trial on state security crimes. But passing legislation was held up when former Prime Minister Omar Karami, the late Karami's brother, and the family rejected an amnesty.
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