Lebanese Minister Sentenced for Terrorism

لبنان.. الحكم على ميشال سماحة بالسجن 13 سنة

Lebanon - Michel Samaha sentenced to 13 years in prison.

[Al-Arabiya on April 8, 2016]


Michel Samaha, a former Lebanese information minister with close ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been imprisoned for planning attacks which is what we learned to name terrorism.

Michel Samaha was convicted of smuggling explosives into Lebanon and plotting assassinations with the help of Syrian security services. His sentence amounts to 13 years in prison according to Al-Arabiya. A related BBC article spoke of about 10 years.

Samaha was arrested in 2012 by a branch of Lebanese security forces known to be close to anti-Syrian factions. At the time his family said the detention was politically motivated.

In 2015 he was initially sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison but that conviction was later skipped and a retrial ordered.

During the trial, Samaha admitted having transported explosives but said he was the victim of entrapment, AFP news agency earlier reported.

Syria's conflict has had a major impact on neighbouring Lebanon, with parties split on supporting the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Lebanon hosts more than one million Syrian refugees and has seen sporadic violence since the outbreak of civil war in Syria.