Lebanese ex-minister sentenced to 10 years for plotting attacks

A Lebanese court sentenced a former minister with close ties to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to nine years and nine months in prison on Friday.

Former Lebanese information minister Michel Samaha. Mohamed Azakir / Reuters / Files

Apr 08, 2016

Beta V.1.0 - Powered by automated translation

BEIRUT // A Lebanese court sentenced a former minister with close ties to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to nine years and nine months in prison on Friday, after a retrial on charges of smuggling explosives and planning attacks.

Former information minister Michel Samaha was detained in August 2012 and sentenced to a shorter term last year.

The longer sentence was set at 13 years, but in Lebanon a prison year is equivalent to nine months.

Samaha had been freed on bail in January pending the retrial.

* Reuters