“A Beirut military court sentenced another 41 Lebanese to prison terms for "collaborating with “Israel”," bring to 1,016 the number of Lebanese sentenced since the court began mass trials of 2,200 people on June 5.

One was judged in absentia and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Two of the others received five year jail terms and a third was sentenced to four years prison, with a ban on visiting their villages in the former “Israeli”-occupied zone for collaborating with the “Israeli” intelligence services.

The sentences for people accused of being members of the pro-”Israeli” militia or of visiting “Israel” varied from three weeks to five years, with some also barred from living in the former occupied zone.

This was the 22nd group of people to be judged since the start of the mass trials of Lebanese suspected of collaborating with the Jewish state, following the May 24 withdrawal of “Israeli” troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

The military court is continuing with the hearings despite court holidays.

AFP, 17-8-2000.