BEYROUTH - In a press release issued by the justice ministry’s media office on Friday, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar called to abolish death penalty. Najjar presented a draft law to the cabinet that would replace death penalty with a life sentence plus hard labour. The Justice Minister called for revoking the articles of the country’s criminal law which allowed courts to issue death sentences.

“Science has proved that there is no causal relationship between crime and the presence or absence of the death penalty,” the communique quoted Najjar as saying. According to the communiqué, the minister hoped that the draft law will be adopted by the cabinet and sent to the parliament as soon as possible.

“Abolishing the death penalty was in line with religious and humanitarian values, as well as Lebanon’s own legal culture,” Najjar said. Furthermore, it is supported by criminology studies, the minister added. He also stated that according to those studies, preventative measures are more effective than the death penalty in reducing crime.