Rifi Reveals Plans for STL to Study Samaha Case
Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi has revealed that he was working on transferring the terrorism case of former Information Minister Michel Samaha to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Rifi told al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Monday that “there is a tendency to transfer part” of the file linked to the explosives, which Samaha had transferred to Lebanon to the STL in the Hague.
The other part linked to Syrian President Bashar Assad's alleged involvement in the case could be transferred to the International Criminal Court, he said.
Last week, the military court sentenced Samaha to four-and-a-half years in jail over terrorism charges, including the time he served since August 2012.
The tribunal's verdict against Samaha drew the ire of the March 14 alliance in particular the Mustaqbal Movement that described the sentence as a “joke.”
Rifi promised to submit a draft-law to the cabinet to dissolve the tribunal after a video was broadcast showing the former minister discussing with undercover police informant Milad Kfouri plans to carry out explosions in Lebanon.
The video was an indication that Assad was aware of the plot, Rifi told al-Mustaqbal.
“This is an additional documented evidence on Assad's role in crimes other than the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,” he said.
Along with Samaha, the head of Syria's powerful National Security Council, Brig. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, and a Syrian aide were also indicted in the case. Their case was separated from Samaha's because they could not be brought to the court.
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