As requested, Mr Al Adawi went to the military court of Beirut in the presence of his lawyer on Monday, 23 April 2012. There, he learned that he was to be questioned regarding a prison break attempt from Roumieh prison, where he had been in the context of his work to assist prisoners and their families. Mr Al Adawi's lawyer was asked to wait outside the room while he was questioned by the investigative judge. At first, Mr Al Adawi was interrogated in as a witness, but the investigative judge then decided to open an investigation against Mr Al Adawi and charged him with facilitating an attempted escape. Mr Al Adawi was then interrogated as a defendant and immediately arrested.

On the evening of 23 April 2012, Mr Al Adawi's relatives tried to visit him, but were not allowed to do so. The next day, they learned that he had been transferred to Al Qubba prison in Tripoli, Northern Governorat, Lebanon in the early morning hours of 24 April 2012.

Mr Al Adawi was not given the possibility of asking his lawyer for assistance while being questioned, charged and arrested even though the latter was waiting just outside the room where his client was being interrogated. In addition, Mr Al Adawi is being investigated by a military jurisdiction and not a civilian court.

Given the accounts of frequent use of torture against detainees in Lebanon, especially of defendants before military courts, Alkarama fears that Mr Al Adawi is at high risk of torture. Therefore, we today informed the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture as well as other relevant UN Special Procedures of Mr Al Adawi's arbitrary arrest and requested their urgent intervention with the Lebanese authorities.