In this Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016 photo, former Lebanese information minister Michel Samaha sits at his home in Beirut, Lebanon, after being released on a $100,000 bail, pending retrial. Lebanon's Military Court of Cassation on Friday, April. 8, 2016 sentenced Samaha to 13 years in jail after he was convicted of terrorism charges. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)
BEIRUT – Lebanese judicial officials say the Military Appeals Court has sentenced a former Cabinet minister convicted on terrorism charges to 13 years in jail.
The officials say Michel Samaha, an ex-minister of information and close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, will be sent to prison to spend the remaining nearly seven years.
They spoke Friday on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Samaha, who was detained in 2012, was convicted earlier by a Lebanese military court on charges of plotting bombings at the behest of Syria. He was sentenced last year to four-and-a-half years in prison.
Surprisingly, the court agreed in January to release him on $100,000 bail. He was banned from leaving the country pending a retrial.
The new sentence was praised by anti-Syrian politicians.
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