The Lebanese judiciary claims 13 people from Hezbollah in the Dahr al-Baydar explosives case

Today (Friday), the Lebanese government commissioner to the military court, Judge Claude Ghanem, charged 13 people belonging to the Hezbollah group in the case of explosives that were seized in the Dahr al-Baydar area, located between the Mount Lebanon and Bekaa governorates, with crimes of assaulting state security, violating government decisions, and possessing weapons and explosives.

The official Lebanese National News Agency reported that “the government commissioner to the military court, Judge Claude Ghanem, sued eight people belonging to Hezbollah in the case of transporting the explosives truck that was seized at the Dahr al-Baydar checkpoint.” All eight defendants are known by name, including the two detainees, Ali Al-Kurdi and Haitham Amhaz.

Judge Ghanem also claimed “against five others belonging to (Hezbollah), known by nicknames, whose full names did not appear.”

The allegation was “crimes of assaulting the state’s internal security, committing crimes against the state’s law, violating government decisions, possessing weapons and explosives, and forming illegal associations aimed at undermining the state’s authority and prestige.”

According to the National News Agency, the penalty imposed on these individuals amounts to “hard labor for ten years.”

Ghanem referred “the defendants, along with the file, to the first military investigating judge, Ghada Abu Alwan, to conduct investigations and issue the necessary arrest warrants.”

It is noteworthy that, in October of this year, the security forces found a quantity of explosive materials inside a car that members of the security forces stopped at a checkpoint in the Dahr al-Baydar area, located between the governorates of Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa. The driver of the car and the person who was with him were arrested, and they were referred, along with the seized items, to the military police based on the advice of the competent judiciary.

Hezbollah announced through its deputy in Parliament, Hassan Fadlallah, that “the car and its cargo return to the resistance,” demanding “the immediate release of the detainees and the recovery of the car and what is inside it.”

The Council of Ministers decided, in a session held on October 22nd, to proceed with the investigation into the explosives file without any restrictions or ceiling except that of the law, and to continue examining the Ministry of Justice’s request to refer the case to the Judicial Council, in light of the progress of the investigation stages.