Life sentence for wife killer

The president of the Criminal Court of Mount Lebanon, Judge Faisal Haidar, sentenced Michel Deeb to 25-year imprisonment for the intentional killing of his wife Nisrine Ruhana by shooting her dead on October 25, 2014 (news: http://bit.ly/2koAq7B). Legal sources following up the case described the verdict as positive and one of the toughest in the history of domestic violence cases. The maximum penalty in homicides varies usually between the death sentence, (which is largely not executed due to the general trend denouncing capital punishment), and life-in-prison (25 years). Similarly, the media officer at Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation, Maya Ammar, considered the above decision as fair from a legal point of view, while noting that her organization has not had the time to read the details of the ruling in order to comment. On the other hand, Rita, the victim’s sister, criticized the decision as unfair and called, on behalf of her family, for the execution of the culprit. Expressing her fears that the killer would be released after completion of his prison term, Rita appealed to the President of the Republic to resume the death sentence in Lebanon so as to serve as a deterrent for future domestic violence instances. According to Al Akhbar newspaper, the victim’s family has the right to appeal the decision and request capital punishment during 15 days, while noting that the killer husband also has the right to cassation demanding a mitigated verdict. (Al Akhbar, February 4, 2017)