Geagea says FPM and Hezbollah want to 'seize' country, as he condemns al-Hage's arrest

BEIRUT — The head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea stated in a press conference Monday that Judge Fadi Akiki who issued the arrest warrant against the Maronite Patriarch Moussa al-Hage, archbishop of Haifa and Jerusalem, is a “traitor.”

Here’s what we know:

    • Hage was arrested last Monday by General Security after the Military Court gave an order for the arrest. The archbishop was reportedly caught with a large number of funds which he said were donations sent by people to their relatives in Lebanon as the country suffers from an unprecedented economic crisis.

    • He was interrogated for twelve hours before being released.

    • Geagea stated that al-Hage’s arrest was “unacceptable” and that the archbishop was “doing his job and is suddenly being attacked.”

    • “Akiki must be referred to the judicial inspection, and there are intentions to seize the country in various ways by Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement,” Geagea stated, noting that the arrest of al-Hage is one of them.

    • “The Minister of Justice said that he has no authority in the file, but that he has the authority when it affects Lebanon's national security,” Geagea stated.

    • Geagea also considered that the incident “is a blow to concepts and ethics.” He added that, “All the clerics in Lebanon are collecting aid, and therefore, what happened is completely rejected, and this is a blow to the foundations on which Lebanon was built.”