Former Information Minister Michel Samaha. (Credit: Louai Beshara/AFP)
BEIRUT — Former Lebanese Minister and consultant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Michel Samaha, was released from jail on Tuesday after serving his term, a judiciary source confirmed to L’Orient Today.
Here’s what we know:
• Samaha, who was arrested in 2012, was convicted of smuggling explosives from Syria to Lebanon with the intent of assassinating political figures and religious leaders.
• On Jan. 14, 2016, Samaha was released on bail pending his retrial, where he was reportedly banned from traveling for a year. He was arrested in May of that year and sentenced to 13 years of prison and hard labor. However, Lebanon’s yearly prison sentences are nine months. Samaha is a former information and tourism minister and a former member of Kataeb party.