Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri postponed a parliamentary session scheduled for Thursday to discuss a controversial general amnesty law, after protests and sectarian tensions erupted in several parts of the country over the proposed legislation.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Berri’s media office said the purpose of the draft law and the exceptional reduction of certain prison sentences was to “restore the principle of justice as a cornerstone of the rule of law and a safeguard for individual freedoms,” particularly in light of chronic delays in Lebanon’s judicial system and the prolonged detention of inmates awaiting verdicts.

The statement said Parliament and joint parliamentary committees had worked in recent weeks to reach a broad national consensus around the legislation at a time when Lebanon “is in dire need of solidarity and agreement.” However, it added that recent developments in several regions, accompanied by what it described as sectarian and confessional incitement, prompted the decision to postpone the session “under the banner of consensus.”

The postponement decision came one day after Lebanon’s joint parliamentary committees approved the draft general amnesty law following extensive amendments aimed at addressing demands raised by political parties, security institutions and the Lebanese Army.

The committees met Tuesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, with the participation of lawmakers from most parliamentary blocs.

The revised text introduced major changes to prison sentences and clarified which crimes would be covered by the amnesty and which would remain excluded. Under the amendments, death sentences — which Lebanon has not carried out since 2004 — would effectively be reduced to 28 years in prison, with each prison year calculated as nine months. Life sentences would be reduced to 18 years, while detainees who have not yet received final verdicts would face a maximum detention period of 14 years.

Other provisions reduce certain penalties to one-third of their original terms and apply the provisions of Lebanon’s Law No. 194 of 2011 to returnees and exiles. The law also grants amnesty for drug use and non-organized drug promotion while excluding organized trafficking and large-scale drug trade.

The proposal further stipulates that convicted individuals would not benefit from the amnesty unless the families of victims waive their personal legal rights in civil court proceedings.

Nevertheless, the proposed law sparked protests in several regions, particularly among families of Islamist detainees who described the draft as “unjust and inequitable.”

Demonstrations were reported Tuesday in Tripoli, Akkar, the border town of Arsal in the Baalbek-Hermel region, and Khaldeh south of Beirut.

In Arsal, relatives of Islamist detainees temporarily blocked roads before the Lebanese Army and security forces intervened to reopen them.

In Khaldeh, protesters briefly shut down traffic by burning tires.

In Tripoli, protesters gathered at Al-Nour Square, where demonstrations, sit-ins and motorcycle convoys waving black Islamist flags denounced what participants called “injustice” against Islamist detainees. Young demonstrators later blocked the Chalfeh-Majdaliya road with burning tires, while traffic was also cut off at Palma Bridge at the southern entrance to the city.

In Akkar, demonstrators blocked the Minieh-Abdeh highway at the Mhammara Bridge using vehicles, causing severe traffic congestion in both directions. Protesters later escalated the demonstrations by setting tires ablaze and calling for broader mobilization to maintain the blockade.

The Lebanese Army later partially reopened the highway while protesters remained gathered along the roadside and security forces worked to fully restore traffic.