Geagea says Archbishop El-Hage's detention is 'message' to al-Rahi

General Security’s detention and lengthy interrogation of Lebanese Maronite archbishop Moussa El-Hage upon his return from Israel is a “message” to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over his “patriotic stances,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Tuesday.

El-Hage is the Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and the Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan. According to the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, he was detained at the Naqoura border crossing before being interrogated for eight hours.

El-Hage’s detention is “not comprehensible at all,” Geagea said in a written statement.

Noting that the vicar has also been summoned for interrogation before Military Examining Magistrate Fadi Akiki on Wedensday, the LF leader stressed that “visiting Maronite monasteries in the Holy Land and looking after their affairs is at the heart of his mission as the Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan.”

“Summoning Archbishop El-Hage for interrogation at the Military Court is not based on a certain suspicion, evidence or proof. We rather consider it to be a message to His Eminence Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi based on his patriotic stances,” Geagea went on to say.

“On many occasions before now, Judge Fadi Akiki proved that he is not present at the Military Court to fulfill justice and safeguard the security of the country and its citizens, but rather to achieve an obvious motive that clearly manifested itself in the unfortunate Tayyouneh incidents and other similar instances,” the LF leader charged.

“The head of the Higher Judicial Council and the state prosecutor are asked to put an end to the behavior of Judge Akiki and to revoke the summoning of Archbishop El-Hage,” Geagea added.

The Nidaa al-Watan newspaper had reported Tuesday that El-Hage “felt humiliated after he was subjected to an extensive search that involved all the items that he was carrying with him.”

“His religious post was not taken into consideration, nor the fact that he is a patriarchal exarch who represents Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi,” the daily added, noting that he was released following “the intervention of senior church and judicial officials.”

The newspaper added that there had been recent attempts to “link Archbishop Moussa El-Hage to cases related to collaboration with the Israeli enemy.”

“He was accused of transferring money and medicines from Lebanese exiles in Israel to their families in Lebanon,” Nidaa al-Watan added.

“Archbishop El-Hage was very dismayed by the manner in which he was detained and the Patriarch al-Rahi was also very dismayed and harsh-toned in dealing with those whom he considered responsible for this detention,” the daily said.

It added that El-Hage will head Tuesday or Wednesday to Diman to put al-Rahi in the picture of everything that has happened with him.