A massive iron gate slides open. Beyond it, rows of grimy, barred windows tower above a grey courtyard. Old blankets drape as sunshields over some, drying clothes hang from others, and a lone hand waves from a grilled window.
This is Roumieh prison, Lebanon’s largest men’s jail. It is a decaying, forbidding place that sometimes holds three times its intended capacity of 1,050 inmates. Since Lebanon’s economic collapse it has been starved of needed funding.
News reports have drawn attention to the rationing of electricity, poor hygiene, water shortages and inedible food. Prisoners also have to pay for their own medical care – or do without.
SAT-7 is a Christian TV network broadcasting across the Middle East. Presenter of SAT-7 ARABIC station’s You Are Not Alone programme, Sirene Semerdjian (pictured right), visited Roumieh as part of a series that heard the stories of offenders and ex-prisoners. Lebanese people generally have a judgemental, uncaring attitude towards prisoners, Sirene says, but she had two aims in making those episodes.
One was to bring ‘a true, real and raw message from inmates who killed and did the worst crimes you can think of, but who are now remorseful. Many have come to Christ inside the jail. We wanted to say, that even if this person committed the worst act ever, they deserve a second chance. While they are in prison, they should be given a respectful life.
‘Also, we wanted to share with our viewers the importance of never losing hope. Even in the darkest place, like this one, there is always a second chance with Christ.’
Several Roumieh prisoners agreed. One, incarcerated for five years for drug dealing, said: ‘Yes, I regret what I did because I wronged myself and those around me. I also regret what I did because I made God unhappy with my wrong ways. Yet He is with me and shows me my wrongs.’ He thanked God for weekly Christian meetings run by outside volunteers and said his faith had helped him ‘learn discipline and love’.
Shafik (pictured left), also inside for drug offences, said that losing his freedom made him think about what really mattered: ‘The things I did, the things I lost, the people who came to visit me and those who didn’t. Only my family came; those who pushed me into drug dealing never came.’
The weekly church meeting also had a life-changing impact on him. Despite being behind bars he said: ‘The best thing about it is that I feel free inside. I am totally free. I don’t care about the walls. I am free in Jesus. I am free from all material and worldly things.’
Abdullah, jailed for selling stolen vehicles, stressed the pain of rejection by those he used to know but who no longer answer his phone calls: ‘I also miss my son Jihad, whose birthday is tomorrow. I will miss his birthday, but I hope I don’t miss the next one. We talk on the phone. I have felt lonely ever since I came here. But now I feel that Jesus is with me. He helps and supports me.’
