General Prosecutor: Asir to Undergo DNA Test, Trial Will Be Public
General Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud revealed that detained Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir will be subject to a DNA test to confirm that it really is him after he had undergone a number of plastic surgery operations to alter his appearance, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.
He told the daily: “I asked the state commissioner to the military court to perform the test.”
Moreover, he said that an indictment had been previously issued against Asir, meaning that his file is “complete” and it will only be a matter of time before he stands trial.
“A preliminary investigation is necessary however and a warrant should be based primarily on an interrogation of Asir,” Hammoud explained.
The trial will be public, he told Asharq al-Awsat.
Asir was arrested at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday as he attempted to leave the country to Nigeria through Egypt.
The firebrand anti-Hizbullah cleric is wanted for his involvement in the clashes against the army in the southern city of Sidon in 2013.
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