BEIRUT: Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi and Hezbollah Tuesday traded accusations over who was to blame for leaking the videos that showed police officers torturing Islamist inmates in Roumieh Prison, an episode that has triggered a nationwide scandal over the country’s human rights violations.

The renewed war of words between leading Future Movement figure Rifi and Hezbollah, which has become a pattern in a history of strained relations between the two rival parties, threatened to jeopardize their 6-month-old dialogue designed to reduce sectarian and political tensions in the country.

As the scandal over the torture videos reverberated across the country, inmates demanding mobile phones and Internet rioted for several hours inside a Roumieh Prison facility, a security source said.

“I accuse Hezbollah of leaking the videos,” Rifi told a joint news conference with Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk. “The people have seen two videos. There are about four videos, and only Hezbollah had access to some of them.”

Machnouk did not seem to support Rifi’s allegations, saying he had “no accurate information” regarding the source of the leak.

Hezbollah flatly rejected the charges and instead accused Rifi of leaking the videos. “These accusations are baseless, invalid and lack credibility,” Hezbollah said in a statement issued by its media office.

“It’s regrettable that we live in a country … where the justice minister issues accusations without any basis or evidence when he is entrusted with ensuring that everyone is working within the law and the guidelines of judicial and justice institutions,” it added.

“It is also shameful that the main suspect in this case is shirking his responsibilities before the law and the public opinion by accusing others,” the Hezbollah statement added, clearly referring to Rifi.Rifi later struck back at Hezbollah’s accusation. “The party has accused me without providing evidence. I am accusing it of distributing the videos with evidence,” he said on his Twitter account.

Rifi visited Machnouk at the Interior Ministry in an apparent move to defuse tensions following media reports that accused the justice minister of leaking the footage and orchestrating the ensuing street protests in Beirut, the northern city of Tripoli and other areas in a bid to undermine the interior minister’s reputation.

Rifi and Machnouk are both leading figures of the Future Movement and are seen as potential contenders for the post of prime minister.

Rifi dismissed rumors of a feud with Machnouk, saying he enjoyed a “fraternal” relationship with the interior minister.

Machnouk also denied reports of a power struggle with Rifi. “There is no disagreement in the broad lines of main politics or in personal ties. Our friendship has been going on for a long time,” Machnouk said. “We are in agreement that what is happening served only extremism and would lead only to undermining moderation. No one has an interest in undermining moderation.”

Machnouk vowed not to back off from confronting extremism throughout Lebanon. He said the ongoing investigation into the torture videos would finish in two or three days and the culprits should be sanctioned by the law and not through the media.

Speaker Nabih Berri said the investigation into the torture incident must be pursued to the end and the perpetrators and those standing behind them, no matter how influential they are, should be punished.

“Such practices are entirely rejected. If they happened in some countries, Lebanon must not follow suit,” Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence.

Praising Machnouk for doing the “right thing,” Berri underlined the need for taking “all necessary legal measures” in this incident. He also stressed that the investigation and punishment should apply to those who leaked the torture videos as well as those standing behind it.

Berri called on Machnouk to apply the law on inmates who rioted for several hours Tuesday inside a Roumieh Prison facility.

Roumieh Prison came under scrutiny this week after footage leaked online showing Internal Security Forces officers torturing inmates. The videos were filmed when security forces quelled riots by Islamist inmates last April.

The leaked videos of guards beating inmates in Roumieh Prison have dramatically raised tensions in Sunni regions of Lebanon, including Tripoli where hundreds protested the torture Sunday night and called for an Islamic state.

Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr Tuesday charged five policemen arrested over their alleged involvement in the torture of Islamist inmates with abusing prisoners, violating military orders and breaching human rights.

Saqr referred their case to Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda after preliminary interrogations were finalized, a judicial source told The Daily Star. Abu Ghayda will later issue the official arrest warrants against the suspects. According to Machnouk a sixth ISF member was arrested Monday.

The five policemen include the officer who filmed the videos and two others who failed to come forward and inform authorities about the incident.

The parliamentary Future bloc strongly denounced the torture of Islamist inmates, describing it as “a major and grave violation” of the prisoners’ rights and runs contrary to laws and norms.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said that it supported demands by the justice and interior ministers for “a transparent and strict investigation” into the torture incident with the aim of severely punishing the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, inmates demanding Wi-Fi and cellphones rioted for several hours inside a Roumieh Prison facility, a security source told The Daily Star.

Police reinforcements managed to quell the riot, the source added. He said drug convicts orchestrated the riot to demand improved conditions in the prison’s Block A. Top security officials were called in to oversee negotiations with the prisoners.

Among their demands were communication technologies, including Internet and cellphones, the source said.

The source said investigations concluded that inmates “benefited from the momentum created by the protests over the torture videos” to start the riot.

Inmates will be charged with participating in the riot, and subjected to judicial measures for the damages they caused, the source said. One day of prison time will be added to the sentence of each prisoner for every LL10,000 ($7) in damage they caused.

The riot also came on the same day that the head of the ISF’s Information Branch vowed to block attempts to usher Lebanon’s largest prison back to an era of impunity.

Roumieh Prison has been the scene of repeated riots in past years, with inmates protesting crowded cells and slow trials.

The largest riot occurred in April 2011, when inmates set their beds on fire and broke down cell doors to protest poor living conditions.

Roumieh’s notorious Block B building was temporarily emptied and shut down after a large-scale police operation in January. Inmates had enjoyed relative autonomy in Block B and prevented security forces from entering.