BEIRUT (AFP) — Around 100 inmates rioted in Lebanon's largest prison on Tuesday, demanding that a law stipulating reduced sentences be applied, a security official told AFP.
"A number of inmates at Rumieh prison began rioting this evening, burning mattresses and other items to press their demands for reduced sentences," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Nineteen prisoners were injured, suffering from either burns or smoke inhalation, he added.
He said security reinforcements had been sent to the prison eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of the capital Beirut and that the rioting died down after about 90 minutes.
The prisoners were demanding application of a law stipulating that for each year of a sentence, convicts serve only nine months.
The same prison was the scene of a mutiny in April last year in which seven warders were held hostage overnight before a peaceful resolution was negotiated.
A riot also broke out at the Qubbah prison in the main northern city of Tripoli in January with inmates holding two wardens overnight.
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