
Activist Abdel Rahman Zakaria celebrated by people gathered for his release, September 22, 2022. (Photo credit : sent by our correspondent Michel Hallak)
BEIRUT — A senior source at the military court confirmed to L'Orient Today on Thursday the release on bail of Abdel Rahman Zakaria, one of the accomplices of Sali Hafez who demanded access to part of her funds at a bank in Beirut last Wednesday, in the context of a case where he had been "accused of insulting the head of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil, during his tour in Akkar on April 30," according to Zakaria's lawyer. This decision had already been made on Tuesday, but the detainee's lawyer, Ali Abbas, still had to go to the military court to end the procedure.
Here's what we know:
• After his release by the military court has been made official, Zakaria was officially released from detention, as the first investigating judge of Beirut, Charbel Abou Samra, had also decided to release him in the case of the Blom Bank holdup in Sodeco.
• The amount of Zakaria's bail was not communicated by the judicial source.
• In the Blom Bank case, Abu Samra had questioned Zakaria and Mohammad Rustom, also an accomplice of Sali Hafez, before ordering their release. The judge’s order was in opposition to the decision of the Public Prosecution at the Court of Cassation, who had decided to prosecute them, Abbas had said on local TV, adding that the release was on the condition of a five million lira bail, each, as well as a six-month travel ban.