First Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda has decided against hearing the testimony of Milad Kfoury Monday after Internal Security Forces failed to locate the witness in the case of former Information Minister Michel Samaha.
Sakhr al-Hachem, Samaha’s defense attorney, said that Abu Ghayda’s step was “legally appropriate,” but added that the public prosecutor’s office should still bring Kfoury in to listen to his testimony or charges against Samaha would be considered baseless.
“Deciding not to listen to his testimony does not mean that the judge no longer considers Kfoury a key witness,” Hachem said.
Abu Ghayda had set Jan. 28 as a hearing date for Kfoury who was to serve as a witness in the case allegedly involving Samaha.
“After his failure to attend today, I decided to ignore his testimony and stick to the statements and voice recordings available at the [Internal Security Forces] Information Branch,” Abu Ghayda told The Daily Star.
Judicial sources pointed out that Abu Ghayda only requested Kfoury’s testimony upon a demand made by Samaha’s defense attorneys and not by the public prosecutor’s office or the investigative judge.
“Kfoury’s statement is clear and the recordings are sufficient evidence [of the crime],” Abu Ghayda said.
Kfoury, who is reportedly out of the country for security reasons, coordinated with the Information Branch to secretly record Samaha’s remarks about the alleged terrorist attacks and plots to assassinate religious and political figures in north Lebanon.
Samaha, who was arrested by members of the Information Branch at his home last August, was also charged with transporting explosives from Syria into Lebanon. Hachem said that no one is disputing Samaha bringing explosives from Syria since the minister has confessed to that crime.
Discussing the charges of carrying out terrorist attacks, Hachem said that they would be considered baseless, if Kfoury, the only witness, did not show up. The lawyer explained that the public prosecutor’s office should still work on bringing Kfoury in.
“It will be in the interest of Samaha if Kfoury did not show up,” Hachem said. “According to preliminary investigations, Milad Kfoury was tasked with recruiting several individuals to carry out the alleged terrorist attacks and assassinations ... if Kfoury is not here, than these charges are false.”
