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BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament on Tuesday abolished the death penalty, making the country the first in the Middle East to formally end the practice.
Lebanon had not carried out an execution since 2004, but sentences were still being issued, the latest being on Monday, and Amnesty International said 85 people were still on death row by January.
Capital punishment typically applied to major crimes like murder, terrorism and espionage.
But the most severe crimes will now be given life sentences with aggravated hard labour.
