Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stressed the need to speed up the trial of Islamist inmates at Roumieh prison, deeming the 'unjustified procrastination' and the 'excessive delay' as no longer valid.

In his weekly editorial posted on al-Anbaa website, Jumblat slammed relevant authorities for failing to address this case before, noting that each detainee has the right to get a fair trial.

He slammed the judiciary for neglecting the trials of the Islamist prisoners, saying it would have averted ongoing crisis if it had addressed their cases previously.

The PSP leader added that this case has now become of paramount urgency given that the release of the prisoners tops the demands of militants who are taking Lebanese soldiers as hostages.

Nonetheless, Jumblat utterly rejected swapping the captives for the inmates, warning that such an unprecedented action would pave way for similar scenarios to reoccur in the future. Jumblat also warned that any swap would take its toll on the troops' morale and discourage the country's security forces that are relentlessly seeking to safeguard stability and preserve sovereignty.