President Joseph Aoun on Friday signed into law a general amnesty bill passed by Parliament, making it the country’s first broad amnesty legislation since 1991.

The law is expected to benefit thousands of prisoners, detainees and wanted people, and was approved by Parliament on August 12 after years of political debate and repeated attempts to reach agreement over its scope. 

Following the signing, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called Aoun to express his appreciation for signing the law, which he said Lebanese citizens had waited a long time to see enacted.

Salam subsequently instructed the relevant departments at the Prime Minister’s Office to publish the law in a special edition of the Official Gazette.

The legislation grants a general amnesty in specified cases and provides exceptional reductions in some prison sentences. Among its provisions, the law lowers the threshold for releasing people who have spent long periods in detention without a judgment from 14 to 12 prison years. It also provides for reductions in certain sentences.

The law does not provide a blanket pardon for all crimes. Serious offenses, including premeditated murder, terrorism, rape, human trafficking, corruption, terror financing, espionage and collaboration with Israel, are among those excluded.