Marathon trials of Lebanese collaborators with “Israel” near end

“Eight months of trials by a Lebanese military court of collaborators with “Israel” during the Jewish state's occupation of southern Lebanon are nearing their end.

Late Monday the court dealt with another 41 defendants, sentencing 21 of them to prison terms of between six months and three years for collaboration.

The remainder were sentenced to one month in jail and fines of half-a-million Lebanese pounds (330 dollars), for entering “Israel” to work.

The collaborators were largely former members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a militia formed by “Israel” whose collapse precipitated the “Israeli” withdrawal from southern Lebanon last May after a 22-year occupation.

The latest verdicts, plus 57 handed down last week, bring to 2,441 the number delivered since June 5 last year. A total of some 2,500 people have been charged.

They include 15 people sentenced to death and three to life imprisonment, all in their absence.

 AFP, 20-2001.