Samaha's Trial Postponed to December

The trial of former Minister Michel Samaha was once again postponed to later this year after authorities failed to summon his associate Syrian security chief General Ali Mamlouk.

Samaha's trial had previously been postponed from June to December last year. It was then delayed to May 30 for the same reasons.

The head of the military court, Brig. Khalil Ibrahim, told a trial session on Thursday that the tribunal received a letter from Liban Post indicating its failure to inform Mamlouk about the summonses over the security situation in Syria.

“I insisted on informing him so it was decided to send back the letter through Liban Post whenever the security circumstances allow,” Ibrahim said at the session, which was attended by Samaha's lawyers, his wife and children.

The judge then adjourned the session to December 5.

Samaha, who is considered close to the Syrian regime, was arrested in August 2012 for planning attacks in Lebanon along with Mamlouk and a Syrian colonel identified only by his first name Adnan.

The former minister and the two Syrian officials are on trial for transporting explosives from Syria to Lebanon in an attempt to assassinate Lebanese political and religious leaders.

The Lebanese judiciary sent Syria a formal notification of the warrants and charges last year, but received no response.

In the event of a non-response, Lebanese law allows for the trial against Samaha to proceed with Mamlouk being tried in absentia, but the court has not so far suggested it would take that approach.

G.K.

H.K.