Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi Friday said he would submit a draft law to the Cabinet to dissolve the Military Tribunal after a controversial verdict was handed down by the court in the Michel Samaha case.
“I am preparing a draft law to annul the military court and I will present it to the Cabinet,” Rifi told reporters following a meeting with human rights organizations.
"I support a civilized, non-totalitarian state,” he said. “The sentence handed down to [ex-minister Michel] Samaha was inappropriate [considering] the crime.”
The tribunal Wednesday handed Samaha a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for transporting explosives from Syria to Lebanon with the intent to assassinate political and religious figures.
The verdict has drawn widespread criticism, with several March 14 figures believing it was too light of a sentence.
Rifi insisted he will carry on with his “struggle to protect humans” and to “build a state that respects institutions.”
Footage released Thursday showed conversations between Samaha and ISF informant Milad Kfoury in which the ex-minister discussed how the explosions should target north Lebanon MP Khaled Daher, his brother, Free Syrian Army commanders, and Syrian militant gatherings in north Lebanon.
Samaha handed Kfoury $170,000 and several bags of TNT to carry out the operations, according to the footage. Kfoury shot the footage using a hidden camera.
