Judge Saqr rejects plea to release former Min. Samaha

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered on Wednesday the Military Court to reject the plea stipulating the release of former Minister Michel Samaha due to the gravity of accusations launched against him, some of which are related to terrorism, he said.

Former Minister Michel Samaha, was arrested on Thursday 9th of August by the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch on suspicion of involvement in a plot to carry out terrorist attacks in Lebanon in collaboration with Syria.

He was charged by the government’s deputy commissioner at the Military Tribunal on Aug. 11, alongside Syrian National Security Bureau head Ali Mamlouk and a Syrian army officer identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan with plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carrying out terrorist attacks.

On another note, Judge Saqr received from the Intelligence Branch, the bodyguard of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, Ali Abdel Wahid, filing a lawsuit against him and thus referring him to Judge Abou Ghida.

He also filed a lawsuit against fugitives Mostapha al-Danab and Alaa al-Moghrabi on accusations related to the same crime.

Al-Assir is a virulent critic of the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah group, which along with its allies dominates Lebanon's government.

He supports rebels fighting to oust Syria's President Bashar Assad.

He is a hard-line Sunni cleric who disappeared during a shootout with the Lebanese army last month in the coastal city of Sidon and has released an audio confirming he is alive.