BEIRUT: The release of former Minister Michel Samaha Thursday sparked uproar among March 14 officials who blasted the Military Court for granting him bail.

Samaha, who was convicted last year on charges of terrorism, vowed shortly after his release to continue his political career.

"I will continue my political work as usual. Others have the right to think what they want but they shouldn't protect Daesh (Islamic State) militants," he told reporters.

"The most important thing in Lebanon is that people respect their past and I cannot make any statement out of respect for the judicial decision," he added in reference to his bail conditions.

The Military Court of Appeal banned Samaha from speaking to the media and issuing statements on social media sites and prohibited him from leaving the country for a one-year period. His bail was set at the amount of L.L.150, 000,000 ($100,000).

"The Military Court of Appeal is a court of law and proved that it has ruled in this case in compliance with the law," Samaha's lawyer Sakher Hashem said following the court's decision.

In 2015, Samaha was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on counts of forming an armed gang, smuggling explosives from Syria into the northern district of Akkar and attempting to assassinate political and religious figures.

Samaha, who has been held in custody since 2012, was to be released in December 2015 after serving his sentence since Lebanese laws equate nine months in incarceration to a one-year prison term.

However, in June, Lebanon's Military Court of Appeal approved a request by the military prosecutor to appeal the initial conviction. Samaha will appear in court Jan. 21 as part of his ongoing trial.

Samaha's initial conviction drew condemnation from several prominent political figures, who claimed that the four and a half years prison sentence was too lenient.

Samaha's release on Thursday sparked uproar among March 14 officials who blasted the Military Court of Appeal.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri described the decision to release Samaha as a "gift granted to a murderer in the name of the law" and expressed his disgust and concerns over the safety of the Lebanese people.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi went so far as to call for the abolition of the Military Court of Appeal in a news conference held shortly after Samaha was granted bail while Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea questioned the court's decision.

Independence Movement leader Michel Moawad said in a tweet that Samhah's release gives terrorists the green light to carry out future assassinations and bombings across Lebanon.