Report: Charges against Geagea Based on Recent YouTube Claims

The Tayyouneh case charges filed by State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki against Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea are based on accusations made during a recent YouTube interview, a media report said on Friday.

The accusations were made by George al-Aaraj, the former head of the now-defunct Numour al-Ahrar militia, which was active during the 1975-1990 civil war, al-Akhbar newspaper said. The YouTube interview, on the SarcasmSyasi channel, was published on March 5.

Asked about the deadly Tayyouneh-Ain el-Remmaneh incidents, Aaraj, who lives in Ain el-Remmaneh, alleged that he was visited by Geagea's guard chief on the night that preceded the clashes.

He added that Geagea's envoy, Simon Musallem, asked for al-Ahrar's help in the anticipated confrontation.

"He asked me if I can convince the (Free Patriotic) Movement's supporters, so that we all take part in the battle," Aaraj said.

"He told me that tomorrow won't be a peaceful day," he added, noting that "all those who came to Ain el-Remmaneh hail from Bsharri," Geagea's hometown.

Al-Akhbar said that after the interview was published, Military Court officials were contacted in order to take the statements into consideration and were asked to summon Aaraj to hear his testimony.

The man, however, was not summoned and Military Court officials based the new charges against Geagea on the allegations that were made in the interview.

Citing leaked details of the preliminary investigations, al-Akhbar had reported on October 29 that Geagea's security chief Mousallem had inspected Ain el-Remmaneh along with "the LF’s military official in Ain al-Remmaneh, Elias Nakhle,” on the eve of the clashes. It also said that dozens of LF members had also flocked to the neighborhood hours before the clashes after their party allegedly declared a "military mobilization."

Seven people were killed in the violence that ensued the next day, most of them supporters of Hizbullah and Amal. Dozens from both sides were also injured in the armed clashes.

While Hizbullah and Amal accused "LF snipers deployed on rooftops" of starting the violence, Geagea has argued that it was Ain el-Remmaneh residents who defended their neighborhood in the face of violent and armed protesters. Social media videos also showed Hizbullah and Amal demonstrators storming and vandalizing a street in Ain el-Remmaneh prior to the eruption of the armed clashes.