Jumblat: Fakhoury's Release a 'Dose of Poison' for Presidency

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday criticized the Military Court’s decision to release Lebanese-American national Amer Fakhoury, describing it as a “dose of poison for the Presidency.”

“Amid the peak of the health and economic crises, the dual loyalty devil’s advocate at the center of decision-making finds an edict to release the collaborator Amer Fakhoury,” Jumblat tweeted.

“What is the use of all the judicial appointments and the talk about the judiciary’s independence, with my appreciation for the head of the Higher Judicial Council and the judges who tried the collaborator. It is a dose of poison for the Presidency,” Jumblat added.

A military judge on Tuesday appealed the verdict that ordered the release of Fakhoury, who had been held since September on charges of working for the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia two decades ago, state-run National News Agency said.

Judge Ghassan Khoury asked the Military Court of Appeals to strike down an earlier ruling in favor of Fakhoury and issue an arrest warrant against him. He asked that Fakhoury be put on trial again on charges of kidnapping, torturing and detaining Lebanese citizens as well as "killing and attempting to kill others," according to NNA.

On Monday, Fakhoury was ordered released because more than 10 years had passed since he allegedly tortured prisoners at a jail run by the SLA.

Some local media reported that Fakhoury was released but there was no official confirmation. A judge imposed a travel ban on him on Tuesday.

Fakhoury, 57, is a former SLA member who became a U.S. citizen last year, and is now a restaurant owner in Dover, New Hampshire. His case has been closely followed in his home state of New Hampshire, where U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and other officials have called for imposing sanctions on Lebanon to pressure Beirut to release him.

Tuesday's appeal came after an outcry in Lebanon over the verdict that ordered him released, including harsh criticism from Hizbullah, which said the verdict to release Fakhoury came after "American pressures and threats."

Fakhoury has not been attending questioning sessions in Lebanon over the past few months after being hospitalized with stage 4 lymphoma cancer.

Fakhoury has been jailed since Sept. 12 after returning to Lebanon on vacation to visit family. Lebanon's intelligence services said he confessed during questioning to being a warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by the SLA during Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.