The House of Representatives gave the green light to the initiative, which modifies current criminal legislation and formally ends the application of capital punishment in the country.

Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar described the decision as a “historic step” and underscored that the abolition of the death penalty does not imply leniency toward crime.

The latest execution carried out in Lebanon dates back to 2004, during the presidency of former President Emile Lahoud, when an employee of the Ministry of Education was executed after being convicted of murdering 11 of his coworkers with a machine gun following a personal dispute with his supervisor.

The debate on abolishing the death penalty dates back several years.

The Justice Ministry promoted a bill in 2008, introduced by 10 members of parliament, to replace it with life imprisonment with hard labor and without the possibility of pardon or sentence reduction.

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