March 14 Supporters Stage Rally in Ashrafieh against Samaha's Release

Young supporters of the March 14 coalition staged a rally on Friday outside ex-minister Michel Samaha's house in Ashrafieh to protest his controversial release from prison.

They gathered at Sassine Square before marching towards the former minister's nearby residence.

Security forces had earlier in the day blocked the roads leading to his house near Rizk Hospital in Ashrafieh in Beirut, amid strict security measures.

Demonstrators also passed by the scene of the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Wissam al-Hassan, who was killed in a bombing in Ashrafieh in 2012.

The Intelligence Bureau played a major role in Samaha's arrest.

“The Holy Land of Martyrs Ashrafieh Does Not Welcome You, Michel Samaha,” said a banner carried by protesters.

“The Ashrafieh Area Refuses to Receive Criminals,” said another banner.

The March 14 youths were joined by MP Nadim Gemayel of the Kataeb bloc.

“The Military Court's decision is the decision of Syrian hegemony represented by March 8 and Hizbullah,” Gemayel said at the sit-in.

“We will submit to Speaker Nabih Berri a petition aimed at abolishing the Military Court,” he added.

Gemayel also hit out at March 8's presidential candidates MP Michel Aoun and MP Suleiman Franjieh.

“We won't accept Michel Samaha's release from prison and we can't allow Franjieh or Aoun to reach the presidential seat because these three figures represent the same political camp,” Gemayel added.

Meanwhile, al-Mustaqbal movement youth official Wissam Shebli said the Military Court's ruling was issued by “Vilayat-e Faqih and weapons,” referring to Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah.

“We demand a real response from all the relevant agencies through unveiling the killers of Wissam al-Hassan,” he added.

Lebanese Forces representative Jad Demian meanwhile said that his party “rejects Samaha's presence in Ashrafieh, the place where Bashir Gemayel and Wissam al-Hassan were martyred.”

Samaha was released from jail on Thursday after being sentenced to four-and-a-half years for smuggling explosives from Syria to Lebanon.

His release drew wide condemnation among the March 14 camp, with head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri deeming it a “shame and a scandal.”

Hariri vowed that he would not remain silent over the affair, adding: “Today we feel disgusted from the insufficient justice and we are fearful over the security of the Lebanese as long as the doors are open for criminals to escape a just ruling.”

He noted that "the first response to this legal heresy must be a draft law to revise the Military Court's jurisdiction."

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi pledged that he would “perform his duties in this issue.”

Repercussions of the release carried on until Friday with protesters briefly blocking roads in several areas in Beirut, such as the Cola and Qasqas neighborhoods.

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.

The ex-minister was arrested in August 2012 and charged with attempting to carry out "terrorist acts" over allegations that he and Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk transported explosives and planned attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in Lebanon.

Samaha was sentenced in May 2015 to four-and-half years in prison, but in June Lebanon's Cassation Court nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial.

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.

M.T./Y.R.