Saqr Appeals Samaha's Verdict as Protesters Say Military Court Turning into 'Sanctuary for Murderers'

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr submitted on Monday an appeal in the verdict against former Minister Michel Samaha.

The appeal demands his retrial and that the verdict be annulled.

The retrial would refer to videos of the former minister during which he discusses the transportation of explosives from Syria to use them in attacks in Lebanon.

The videos also show him discussing the assassination of various Lebanese officials.

Samaha was sentenced last week to four-and-a-half years in jail on terrorism charges.

Later on Monday, a number of civil society activists staged a rally in the northern city of Tripoli to denounce the verdict against Samaha, which fell short of their expectations.

“We were shocked by the unusual speed in issuing this verdict which undermines the foundations of justice,” a spokeswoman for the protesters said.

“The Samaha ruling represents an attack on the entire society, because the crime that was being plotted was targeted against civil peace and was aimed at stirring strife,” she added.

“We stand shoulder by shoulder in the face of these fictional verdicts,” the spokesperson stated.

She called for limiting the jurisdiction of the Military Court to the prosecution of military personnel.

The protesters also called for referring Samaha's lawsuit to the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon that is probing the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, citing what they described as a “close link” between the ex-minister's case and “all the assassinations.”

“How will murderers be released as innocents stay behind bars,” the protesters added, noting that “Samaha sold himself to the traitors and criminals.”

The demonstrators also vowed that they “will not tolerate that the Military Court be turned into a sanctuary for killers and terrorists.”

Arrested in August 2012, Samaha would be released at the end of this year taking into account time served and because the judicial year amounts to nine months in Lebanon.

The verdict created uproar among politicians and civil society, who slammed the Military Tribunal for its light verdict.

Samaha was found guilty of "having tried to carry out terrorist actions and for belonging to an armed group" and was also stripped of his civil and political rights.

The defense team argues that the former minister fell into a trap set by the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch.

Samaha, who was also once an adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, admitted in court last month that he had transported explosives from Syria for use in attacks in Lebanon, but argued that he had been the victim of entrapment.

M.T./Y.R.