BEIRUT: The Military Court of Cassation approved Friday the release on bail of three detainees on trial in connection with the Abra battle against the Army in June 2013, judicial sources told The Daily Star.
The sources said the court refused an appeal by the military prosecutor to keep them behind bars, allowing their release in exchange of LL5 million ($3,300) bail for each detainee, the sources said.
The three defendants are among 71 people, including Salafi preacher Ahmad al-Assir, being tried over last year's clashes in Abra.
The next hearing in the trial was fixed for Jan. 13, 2015, the sources said.
The suspects, including Assir and 24 other fugitives, are accused of murdering and attempting to murder soldiers and civilians, of committing terrorist operations, possessing weapons and explosives, instigating sectarian tension and calling for sectarian fighting.
If convicted, many of the detainees could face death penalty.
The anti-Hezbollah preacher, whose gunmen provoked a deadly, two-day battle with the Lebanese Army in June 2013 after attacking one of its checkpoints, is still on the run, while many of his followers were arrested after the clashes.
The attacks resulted in the death of 18 Army soldiers and around 40 of Assir’s followers. The Army arrested dozens of suspects.
Assir was the preacher at the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Abra, near the site of the clashes. He claimed that the Lebanese government was controlled by Hezbollah and that state institutions, especially its security forces, were biased against Sunnis.
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