Saniora on Samaha's Release: Lebanese Will Not Accept New Phase of Hegemony
Head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora condemned on Saturday on behalf of the March 14 alliance the release of former Minister Michel Samaha from prison, saying that the Military Court's ruling is an “insult to the Lebanese people.”
He said: “The Lebanese people will not accept a new phase of foreign hegemony and will reject a Military Court that pardons traitors.”
He made his remarks after a March 14 delegation paid a visit to the tombs of slain former Premier Rafik Hariri and Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Wissam al-Hassan in downtown Beirut.
“Samaha's release makes light of the blood of martyrs and encourages criminals to continue their crimes against all Lebanese without discrimination,” he added.
“We will continue to combat corruption in order to protect Lebanon, the country of coexistence,” he stressed.
“We will not allow Samaha's crime to pass,” he stated.
Saniora remarked that the Military Tribunal's ruling “justifies the formation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, because the Lebanese justice system has failed us.”
The STL was formed to tackle Hariri's assassination in a massive bombing in Beirut in February 2005.
He also noted that some members of the Military Court were changed days before the ruling was made.
Furthermore, Saniora accused the “black shirts gang” of controlling the Military Court, voicing support for calls for the reevaluation of the Court's jurisdiction.
The “black shirts” refers to Hizbullah fighters' brief armed takeover of Beirut in May 2008 in protest against various political decisions at the time.
“How is it possible that some people can be thrown in jail for years without trial simply for being suspected of criminal activity?” Saniora wondered.
“Michel Samaha meanwhile is a criminal who was caught red-handed. The Lebanese people will no longer accept that the gang of black shirts control their lives,” declared the lawmaker.
“Samaha's release is a message to the Lebanese people that they can never dream of achieving justice or of a country where human rights are respected,” he lamented.
He called on the lawyers syndicate to hold a ten-minute moment of silence on Monday in protest against Samaha's release.
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.
Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri deemed the release a “shame and scandal,” vowing that he will not remain silent over the issue.
Demonstrators on Friday blocked a number of roads in Beirut in protest against the release, while the March 14 youth groups staged a rally in front of Samaha's residence in Ashrafieh.
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.
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