The Military Court of Cassation headed by Judge Tony Lattouf kicked off on Wednesday its trial session after it overturned the verdict issued against former Minister Michel Samaha on May 13th, sentencing him to four and a half years in prison, and stripping him of all civil rights.
During the session, former Minister Samaha refused to verify the testimony he made before the Internal Security Forces Information Bureau.
“I was not thinking clearly when I saw how they stormed into my house and treated my wife,” he said.
In this context, sources told LBCI that Samaha explained that “before the investigations were launched, there had been an hour of intimidation,” adding that he asked to meet with late security official Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan.
“After we met, the situation was relatively calmer,” he said.
Samaha continued by saying that he did not report “the yelling and intimidation” to Judge Samir Hammoud because he was "afraid of what may happen."
On May 13, the trial of former Information Minister Michel Samaha ended at the Military Court, and a verdict was issued sentencing him to four and a half years in prison, and stripping him of all civil rights.
The verdict also stipulates that his years of detention would be counted from the day he was incarcerated, leaving him to serve the remaining 11 months in prison according to Samaha’s defense attorney.
Prior to the issuance of the verdict, Associate Government Commissioner Judge Hani Helmi al-Hajjar read his remarks, whereby he stressed that the accused was found guilty of the crimes raised against him and included in the indictment.
For his part, Samaha’s attorney Sakher al-Hashem stressed that his client was not aware of the explosives transported in his car, adding that he had no intention of committing terrorist acts, and that he had been framed. He stated that his client was not guilty.
Samaha, who had close ties with the Syrian regime, was arrested in August 2012 for plotting attacks in Lebanon along with two Syrian officials.
His trial started in June 2013 but had been repeatedly postponed for failing to summon Ali Mamlouk and a Syrian colonel identified only by his first name, Adnan, the cases of whom were included in Samaha’s case.
Last March, the tribunal decided to separate the trial of detainee Michel Samaha from that of Syrian security Chief General Ali Mamlouk.