BEIRUT, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday abolished the death penalty and replaced all existing death sentences with life imprisonment, the speaker's office said in a statement.The move makes it the first country in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment, after maintaining a de facto moratorium on executions since 2004, although dozens of people had remained technically on death row. Crimes that were punishable with a death sentence included murder and treason.

Lebanon’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, formally ending capital punishment in the country and making it the first nation in the Middle East to take such a…

País não executa nenhum condenado desde 2004, mas punição seguia prevista na legislação

Moratorium on executions had already been in place for 22 years

The move comes as parliament debates a controversial general amnesty law amid overcrowded prisions