The file of the explosives truck seized at the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint in the Lebanese Bekaa took a prominent judicial turn, represented by the prosecution of the government commissioner to the military court, Judge Claude Ghanem, against thirteen people belonging to Hezbollah, for crimes that go beyond the possession of weapons and explosives to “assaulting the state’s internal security and undermining its authority and prestige.” Ghanem referred the file to the first military investigating judge, Ghada Abu Alwan, to conduct investigations and issue the necessary arrest warrants.
A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the prosecution included eight people known by name, namely the two detainees, Haitham Amhaz and Ali Al-Kurdi, who were in the car transporting the explosives, in addition to Ibrahim Hussein, nicknamed “Sajid,” Bilal Al-Sabouri, nicknamed “Zulfiqar,” Muhammad Ayoub, Muhammad Zuaiter, Muhammad Hazma, the owner of the truck that was carrying the explosives, and Perina Creciona, Amhaz’s wife. He also claimed against five people whose full identity is not known, but are known by nicknames. The available information did not include details of the roles attributed to each of them in the case, or the nature of the actions relied upon by the prosecution to determine their responsibilities.
The source explained that the prosecution included 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.” The penalties stipulated in the alleged articles amount to ten years’ hard labor.
According to the criminal classification contained in the prosecution, the file is no longer limited to the incident of transporting a shipment of explosives and seizing it at a security checkpoint, but rather includes examining the actions attributed to a group of people, and the extent to which they undermine the security and authority of the state. However, determining individual responsibilities and proving the elements on which these crimes are based remain subject to the judicial investigation and the evidence and testimonies available therein.
With the accusation of forming illegal associations with the aim of undermining the authority and prestige of the state, there is some reason to dispel concerns about reducing the burden of prosecuting these people before the military judiciary, which was a reason for political forces to demand that the case be referred to the Judicial Council.
With the file referred to Judge Abu Alwan, the case enters the investigative investigation stage. It is expected that the facts and roles attributed to the defendants will be examined. Completing the identification of the five people known by their names remains one of the issues raised in the file, in addition to investigating the people known by their names.
This allegation constitutes an essential step in the judicial process of the case, but it does not represent a conviction. The accusations, despite their seriousness, remain subject to investigation and proof, with all defendants retaining the right to defense and the presumption of innocence, until judicial decisions are issued that determine the outcome of the prosecution and the responsibility of each of them.
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.”
