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ARREST

Maronite Patriarchate condemns bishops arrest on southern border

BEIRUT — The Maronite Patriarchate released a statement Wednesday condemning General Security’s arrest of Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land Moussa al-Hage in Ras al-Naqoura in South Lebanon following his return from Haifa.

Here’s what we know:

    • The press release called on the Lebanese state to put an end to “the security, judicial and political farce of which the bishop was the object.”

    • On Monday, General Security members at the southern border post of Ras al-Naqoura, on the orders of the government commissioner at the Military Court, Fadi Akiki, arrested Hage as he was returning “as usual from his bishopric in the Holy Land.”

    • Hage was detained for 12 hours, interrogated, and had his Lebanese passport and his cell phone confiscated, the statement said, adding that medical and cash aid he had “transported on behalf of some needy and sick in Lebanon from all communities” was also confiscated. This aid, the statement said, was “sent by Lebanese and Palestinian benefactors because the government has not run the country well and haven’t ensured the basic needs [of its citizens].”

    • The statement praised Hage as a member of the church who “always strives to fulfill his role with courage, wisdom and humanity, in the service of the law, of the needy and of the sick, especially in times of misfortune such as those we are experiencing today.”

    • The Maronite Patriarchate concluded its statement by calling on “the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation to refer Judge Akiki to the Judicial Inspectorate and to dismiss him.”

BEIRUT — The Maronite Patriarchate released a statement Wednesday condemning General Security’s arrest of Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land Moussa al-Hage in Ras al-Naqoura in South Lebanon following his return from Haifa.Here’s what we know:     • The press release called on the Lebanese state to put an end to “the security, judicial and political farce of which the...