Geagea Says LBCI Ruling against Lebanese who Confronted 'Armed Palestinians'

W460

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday criticized anew the ruling that was issued Thursday by Judge Fatima Jouni over the ownership of LBCI television.

“The ruling in the LBCI case was not a ruling in the LBCI case but rather a ruling against every honorable Lebanese citizen who confronted the armed Palestinian groups that were trying to establish an alternative entity in Lebanon,” Geagea tweeted, referring to Lebanon's civil war and the Palestinian role in it.

In her ruling, Judge Jouni said the TV network had been initially funded by a “disbanded militia” and consequently by “revenues and bank loans granted to a company whose stakes are largely owned by Pierre Daher.”

“It has not been proved that Dr. Geagea and the LF had contributed any of their money in the establishment of that firm, seeing as they are not the owners of the money of disbanded militias,” Jouni said, noting that Geagea and the LF also did not play a role in obtaining the license that the TV network was granted after civil war.

“Only the Lebanese state has the right to share Daher in his stakes,” Jouni added, arguing that the state is the owner of any funds belonging to civil war militias.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 3
Thumb cedar 01 March 2019, 18:24

This station was founded by the good will of the LF and people who were continuing in the spirit of Christian Resistance at that time, its control was ultimately intended for Christian Management not private enterprise outise of the resistance movement. Pierre Daher overstepped his entitlements. It belongs to the Christian people not Geagea and not Daher. It should be redistributed to share holdings of all the kataeb and ahrar and LF members to control.

Thumb whoareyou 02 March 2019, 14:54

I disagree. This is about who owns LBC nothing else. The sacred and somewhat romantic notion of Christian Resistance, while very close to my own 60 something heart, is immaterial. The facts are that since it's inception in 1985 LBC was always a LF corporation. It was proclaimed as "مؤسسة نحو المستقبل" from day one. The Kataeb and Ahrar had no hand whatsoever in the creation of the station. The ruling is obviously political. The judge overstepped her authority by bringing up the wartime history of the LF, irrelevant to this file, rather than focusing solely on the ownership of the station.

Thumb canadianleb 01 March 2019, 23:41

You are correct but we all know that will not ever happen.