Lebanese Military Court Charges LF Leader Geagea Over Deadly Beirut Violence

By Staff, Agencies

A Lebanese military court has charged leading Christian politician and executive chairman of the far-right Lebanese Forces [LF] political party, Samir Geagea, over the deadly violence in the capital Beirut last October.

The charges stem from an incident on October 14, 2021, when LF militiamen fired from rooftops at hundreds of peaceful supporters of the Hezbollah resistance movement and its ally Amal party at a protest by the Beirut Justice Palace.

The protesters had gathered to demand that the judge leading a probe into the 2020 Beirut port blast step down after attempting to summon high-profile political figures for questioning.

The shooting sparked hours-long clashes in nearby neighborhoods. At least seven people were martyred and more than 30 others wounded.

In a speech following the deadly violence, Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah described the Lebanese Forces as the “biggest threat” to Christians in Lebanon, warning the former militia group against “miscalculations” that would plunge the country into a civil war.

More than 200 people were killed and about 6,500 wounded in the explosion at Beirut’s port in August 2020, when a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored unsafely at the port for years, detonated.

The explosion has left Lebanon’s economy – already reeling from multiple crises, including the breakdown of its banking system, spiraling inflation and the coronavirus pandemic – in tatters.

Western meddling and US sanctions have worsened the deteriorating financial and political crisis.