Families of Lebanese detainees in UAE prisons stage protest in Beirut

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Families of Lebanese detainees in UAE prisons held a protest before the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand that officials push for the release of their family members, especially after the UAE announced the death of Lebanese citizen Gazi Ezzedine while in detention in the country.

Ezzedine's family publicly accused the UAE of having tortured their son while under interrogation.

During the protest, the participants stressed that the media campaigns would not cease before the return of Ezzedine's body and the release of the 14 detainees, who had not yet been charged or were indicted with, what the parents confirmed, were fabricated charges and were not allowed to appoint lawyers.

Ezzedine, who was 55 years old, has been detained in the UAE since mid-March. He died on May 4, while in detention. It is worth noting that his two brothers were also detained by UAE authorities.

Significantly, the family of the deceased was informed of his death five days after his passing. AFP reported that "the authorities [UAE] refused to hand over his body to his family for burial in Beirut."

According to Amnesty International, the authorities reached out to the deceased's son and asked him to come to identify his father's body but did not allow him to see anything other than his face.

The organization called on the UAE authorities to investigate the death of Ezzedine.

Amnesty International considered it "very suspicious that the authorities would allow Ghazi to be identified only by showing his face, as well as refusing to hand over the body to the family" in addition to asking the family to remain "discreet".