Rifi Submits Request to Cabinet to Refer Samaha to Judicial Council

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi submitted to the cabinet on Monday a draft project on the release from jail of former Minister Michel Samaha.

The draft calls for the referral of the former minister to the judicial council.

Samaha was released from jail on Thursday after being arrested in 2012 after he was caught red-handed smuggling explosives from Syria for the purpose of carrying out bombings and assassinations in Lebanon.

He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.

The release sparked a wave of anger in Lebanon against the military court, most notably among the March 14 alliance.

Rifi vowed last week that he will perform “his duties” regarding the release of Samaha.

Samaha, who was information minister from 1992 to 1995, was released in exchange for a bail payment of 150 million Lebanese pounds ($100,000), according the text of the Military Court's judgment.

Under his bail conditions, Samaha, 67, would be barred from leaving the country for at least one year, speaking to the press or using social media.

Samaha, a former adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, admitted during his trial that he had transported the explosives from Syria for use in attacks in Lebanon.

But he argued he should be acquitted because he was a victim of entrapment by a Lebanese security services informer – Milad Kfoury.