After 16 Years in Jail, Sleiman Issues Presidential Pardon to Release Shaaban

Source: almanar.com.lb, 11-07-2009

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on Friday granted amnesty to Palestinian prisoner Youssef Shaaban, who has been jailed since 1994 for allegedly killing a Jordanian diplomat.

Sleiman referred Shaaban's dossier to the justice ministry to carry out the necessary measures. His release comes several years after the execution of the true killers of Jordan's second-ranking diplomat in Beirut Naeb Imran Maaytah.

The assassination of Maaytah, first secretary of the Jordanian Embassy in Beirut, took place as Jordan and "Israel"were in negotiations that led to a peace treaty in October 1994.

Human rights groups, Shaaban's family and some politicians sought his pardon for years, saying he was unjustly imprisoned.