The Military Court in Lebanon issued a death sentence in absentia against the killing of an Irish soldier from the UNIFIL force, more than 3 years after the trials began in the case that was accused of Hezbollah members of involvement, according to a judicial source told the French Press Agency, Tuesday.
The Irish soldier was killed in the United Nations temporary force operating in Lebanon, Sean Rooney, in December 2022, and 3 others were wounded during an accident that included bullets on their armored vehicle as it passed in the Aqabiya area in the south of the country.
The source, who reserved his identity, stated that “the Military Court in Lebanon issued midnight on Monday in the case of the murder of the Irish soldier, Sean Rooney (…), and sentenced to the death penalty in absentia against the main suspect, Mohamed Ayad.”
In June 2023, the Lebanese judiciary accused five members of Hezbollah of the crime of murder, according to a judicial source at the time, knowing that the party had been handed over about two weeks after the assault of the basic shooter to the Lebanese army, according to a security source.
However, Hezbollah condemned at the time to involve its elements in the investigations, according to a party source told the agency.
Ayad was released in November 2023 “for health reasons”, and he did not attend any of the trial sessions since it was, according to the judicial source on Tuesday.
In addition to the death sentence against Ayad, the court, according to the same source, interrogated 5 other persons, “they surrendered to the court hours before the session” after they had “disappeared from view since the accident occurred.”
He said that “reduced rulings were issued against 4 of them,” ranging from prison for weeks or months and financial fines, while he saw the fifth.
It is located from time to time skirmishes between UNIFIL patrols and the supporters of Hezbollah, but they rarely worsen and quickly contain the Lebanese authorities.
The UNIFIL force has been spread since 1978 in the south to separate Lebanon and Israel. It includes more than 10,000 soldiers from about 50 countries.
