A Lebanese Military Court delivered its verdict in the trial of a controversial cleric, Ahmad Al-Asir, linked to a shootout with government troops in 2013. The suspects were accused of having formed armed groups that attacked a government institution, the Lebanese army, killed 18 Lebanese officers and soldiers, took explosive materials, light and heavy weapons and used them against the Lebanese army.
Ahmed al-Asir was sentenced to death in the case of the 2013 Abra clashes, and the singer Fadel Shaker to 15 years of hard labor, in absentia. Asir’s brother Amjad and seven other defendants were also sentenced to death in the same case.
Tight security measures had been taken around the Military Court in Beirut during the trial. As he appeared before the court, Asir “refused to recognize the court and its rulings” and said it was “subject to Iranian hegemony,” NNA news reported. He also refused to recognize a military lawyer appointed by the court.
The anti-Hezbollah cleric, al Asir had been on the run since the 2013 Abra clashes, and was detained at Beirut’s airport in 2015 as he tried to flee the country using a fake Palestinian passport.
Hala Hayek Najjar
