Commenting on the remarks made by Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Friday in a press conference, during which he addressed the president of the republic, the prime minister and the speaker, urging them to take the necessary measures in the case of “LBC”, the administration of LBCI issued the following statement:
First: This message constitutes a clear proof that Geagea is bankrupt and a continuous attempt to shift the judicial conflict away from the court, after the lawsuit filed by the Lebanese Forces lacked a valid legal basis and after the truth came out in the verdict issued on February 28, 2019, by Judge Fatima Jouni, confirming LBCI’s ownership by the shareholders and denying any ties to the Lebanese Forces.
Second: Geagea claimed in his message that, according to the verdict, the “Lebanese Forces” party won the legal right it has been demanding but lost in politics; but if the party did in fact win, why did they file an appeal to challenge said verdict?
The irony is that, after Judge Jouni asked both parties involved in the case during the closing argument session to state honestly if they wish that she steps down from this case for any reason, the “Lebanese Forces” party refused and insisted that she issues her judgement; which proves the party’s complete trust in Jouni’s impartiality. However, this trust quickly shifted after the issuance of the verdict and turned into doubts, while accusing Jouni of having political inclinations.
The truth is that the party’s claims that it lost in politics is another desperate attempt to justify losing the case according to the law, and this is the same excuse the “Lebanese Forces” party would have used regardless of the judge issuing the verdict, even if Judge Jouni had stepped down.
What could probably be the party’s excuse to justify the lost civil and criminal lawsuits filed before more than one court in Beirut and Mount Lebanon against LBCI and Sheikh Pierre el-Daher? Will Geagea also blame these losses on political reasons?
Third: Dr. Geagea’s call on “the president of the republic, the prime minister and the speaker to take the necessary measures” and the justice minister to interfere in a judicial conflict, constitutes a violation of the essence of the parliamentary system based on “the principle of separation of powers” between the executive power represented by the president and the prime minister, the legislative power represented by the parliament and the judicial power. It is also a clear attempt to drag the executive and parliamentary authorities to interfere in a legal conflict, contrary to Geagea’s constant call to keep away all political intervention from the judiciary.
Fourth: Dr. Samir Geagea’s claims that “the first verdict confirmed that neither a sale nor a purchase has taken place,” represent one episode in the series of misleading information, based on which the “Lebanese Forces” party built its lawsuit 12 years ago.
In fact, the opposite is true. The plaintiff in this case is the “Lebanese Forces” party founded in 2005, which is different from the “Lebanese Forces militia” dissolved in 1989.
The sale operation denied by the verdict is between the “Lebanese Forces” party founded in 2005 on one side and Sheikh Pierre El Daher and LBCI on the other side; however, the same verdict confirms a sale operation that took place in 1992 between Dr. Samir Geagea personally and Sheikh Pierre Daher, after proving that Geagea was the leader of the dissolved militia at the time, and has also taken over its funds and properties and sold its weapons unilaterally without going through the party’s structure, according to confessions made by Geagea personally during the interrogation before Judge Jouni. He also admitted to selling a large quantity of weapons in 1991 to the Lebanese Formed Forces, through the mediation of Martyr Rafik Hariri, for an amount of $5 million.
Fifth: LBCI’s administration emphasizes that it has filed an appeal to challenge a decision to overturn a request to order the Lebanese Forces to, not only pay $5 million in damages, but also to pay at least $15 million, with an average of $5 million for each of LBCI, LBCI Overseas and Sheikh Pierre El Daher.
Moreover, in his remarks on Friday, Geagea accused Pierre El Daher of taking an amount of $500 million from the Lebanese Forces. Aside from lacking any evidence to prove this claim, this accusation is completely false as proved by the latest verdict, which denied any claim that Sheikh El Daher took any money from the party; however confirming that “Pierre El Daher founded the TV channel with his own efforts to achieve prosperity and to attract clients… leading the company to use its own revenues that were made thanks to el-Daher’s efforts, bank loans and funds from the new shareholders who joined the company.” (P. /88/ and /93/ of the verdict)
Sixth: The “Lebanese Forces” party has always insisted on litigation and has expressed its willingness to accept the decision of the judiciary; the party has also called for speeding up the issuance of the sentence, accusing Sheikh Pierre El Daher of procrastination. However, after the party filed its appeal, we see Geagea already refusing the decision of the Court of Appeals through his message to the president, the prime minister, the speaker and the justice minister, urging them to “take the necessary measures,” which explains why Geagea has been so keen in seeking the Justice Ministry before the formation of the current cabinet.
We wish that Geagea would accept the ruling of the court, instead of rising against judicial verdicts and sending political messages that will not bring him any benefit.