Qortbawi Hands Parliament Request to Lift Merehbi’s Immunity over Army Remarks
Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi handed parliament on Thursday a request to lift immunity off MP Moeen al-Merehbi.
The request was made to parliament’s general secretariat and at the behest of the Army Command after it accused him of incitement against the army, reported al-Jadeed television.
Merehbi later told LBCI television that he “is ready to be tried.”
He added a hope that all powers, regardless of their rank, would be held accountable as well.
On July 31, the Army Command announced that it had “launched measures aimed at prosecuting Merehbi” after he “insisted on attacking the military institution and insulting its leadership.”
Earlier that day, Merehbi slammed Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji as an “unsuccessful person,” accusing him of being “responsible for all the mistakes and seditions.”
The lawmaker also said the army commander is “an employee who should do his job,” accusing him of “exploiting the (military) institution in order to become the next president of the republic.”
In a statement issued by the Army Command in response to Merehbi’s remarks, the military institution said: “Let the lawmaker know that all the officers and soldiers of the army are not his employees, but rather the servants of all the Lebanese people, and they only abide by the decisions of the legitimate authorities and the collective national will.”
Merehbi has been locked in a war of words with the military institution ever since the shooting death in May of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed at an army checkpoint in Akkar.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/50982 |