Lebanon’s military court on Tuesday wrapped up, in just one hour, the trial of Nouh Zaiter, known as the “drug emperor,” ruling on 40 security cases involving weapons possession, military ammunition, gunfire, and confrontations with Lebanese army patrols during operational duties.
The court, chaired by Brig. Gen. Wassim Fayyad, handed Zaiter one-month prison terms in four cases, acquitted him in three, and dropped charges in 33 others due to the statute of limitations.
These lenient rulings are not the end of the road. Zaiter still faces three major cases involving serious felony charges, including opening fire on Lebanese army patrols, killing soldiers, and drug trafficking.
A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the military court has set May 5 as the date for hearings in those cases, where verdicts are expected to be severe if the defendant fails to prove his innocence.
The source added that Zaiter is facing hundreds of files related to the manufacture and distribution of drugs in Lebanon and their export abroad.
Those cases remain pending before criminal courts in the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon, Beirut, and northern Lebanon, meaning that trying Zaiter in all of them will take years.
Forty misdemeanors
The permanent military court opened the trial session on Tuesday afternoon. It began questioning Zaiter over 40 misdemeanor cases, accusing him of confronting Lebanese army patrols while they were carrying out military missions in the Bekaa, assaulting members of the Internal Security Forces, possessing weapons and military ammunition, and opening fire in residential areas.
The trial marked the first in-person and public hearing for Zaiter, who has been prosecuted in absentia for more than three decades in hundreds of security and drug-related cases.
Hunger strike
During his appearance before the court, Zaiter appeared pale and unable to stand due to a hunger strike, prompting the presiding judge to allow him to sit on a chair in front of the bench.
At the outset of the session, before any questions were put to him, Zaiter told the court that he had voluntarily surrendered to Lebanese army intelligence, denying reports that he had been arrested in a tightly planned security ambush.
“I wanted to put an end to this turmoil,” he said. “I was waking up every day to new stories and fabricated accusations.”
In November, Lebanese army intelligence had announced Zaiter’s arrest in an ambush on the road to his hometown in the Bekaa, ending a three-decade career in drug trafficking, particularly the production and trade of Captagon.
Flight to Syria
During the session, summaries of the rulings against Zaiter in security cases dating back to 1992 were read out. He said he had been outside Lebanon between 1992 and 2001.
“In 2011, with the outbreak of events in Syria, I moved there permanently,” he said. “I only made very brief visits to Lebanon to check on my family,” denying that he carried out any security activity inside Lebanese territory during that period.
Asked about charges related to the seizure of weapons and military ammunition at his home in the Bekaa, and to firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the Sharawneh neighborhood of Baalbek, as well as celebratory gunfire in public places, Zaiter denied the allegations.
He said he had fired his weapon only once during the funeral of Lebanese army martyrs.
Denial of charges
Throughout the trial, Zaiter repeatedly denied the charges as each ruling was read out, while the public prosecution maintained its accusations.
For his part, the defense lawyer argued that the cases had expired under the statute of limitations, calling for Zaiter’s acquittal due to insufficient evidence and on the basis that doubt should be interpreted in favor of the defendant.
At the close of the trial, Zaiter requested that he be transferred from his current detention location at a holding facility under the authority of the Information Branch inside Roumieh prison, and that he be allowed to meet his family and children.
The presiding judge approved the visitation request and said he would raise the transfer issue with the relevant authorities for a decision.
