Two remaining Hezbollah members held over weapons charges released

Following a Cabinet decision in early March to deem Hezbollah’s security activities illegal, the last two members of the party detained at an army checkpoint for carrying weapons and transporting heavy artillery were released.

The men, who were charged by the government commissioner to the military court, Claude Ghanem, were freed by the first investigative military judge, Ghada Abou Alwan, before whom they had been referred.

After questioning them on March 24, the judge issued arrest warrants against them, before ordering their release a month later, on Tuesday, according to a judicial source.

Their bail was set at LL100 million, or the equivalent of $1,120 at the official exchange rate.

It now appears that no detainees remain among Hezbollah’s ranks following the release of these two.

Several other individuals were arrested in the wake of the March 2 decision to declare Hezbollah’s military activities illegal.

Four of them were released by the Military Court, presided over by Wassim Fayad, on a symbolic bail of $21, after six days in detention on charges of illegal weapons possession.

Judge Abou Alwan had also ordered the release of another armed member, while another investigative military judge, Rayan Nasr, took a similar decision for a sixth member.

Separately, a member of the Amal Movement, arrested on similar charges and found in possession of several hunting rifles and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, was also detained for around 50 days before being released.

These releases come as Hezbollah continues to argue that its arsenal is necessary for “resistance” against Israel, and that the Constitution guarantees the right to defend against external aggression.

On March 24, during a sit-in outside the military court — held in parallel with Abou Alwan’s questioning of the two men now released — a group of lawyers close to Hezbollah, known as the “National Lawyers” (al-Houqouqiyoun al-Wataniyoun), said that “resistance fighters sacrifice themselves for Lebanon and its people.”

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour and was translated by Joelle El Khoury.

Libération des deux derniers partisans du Hezbollah arrêtés pour port d’armes