“Lebanon Debate”
Lawyer Elie Mahfoud, at the head of a delegation of lawyers, filed a lawsuit before the Cassation Public Prosecution, against the backdrop of attacks on the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, considering that “the file is complex and is far beyond the insult to which Patriarch Al-Rai was exposed,” stressing that “the issue is related to the prestige of the state, and therefore the judiciary is facing a test today, and the entire state is facing a test, which is the prestige of the state.”
In parallel, calls were spread across social networking sites to gather in front of the Palace of Justice, where two opposing movements are expected to be organized: the first is in support of the “Islamic Resistance – Hezbollah” under the title “Resistance Sect,” and the second is in solidarity with the LBCI channel “to express freedom of the press” against the backdrop of the publication of the controversial video. However, it turns out that the two calls are false and their goal appears to be to stir up strife.
Mahfoud explained that “today the judiciary is facing a test: how capable is the state, how capable is the judiciary to hold accountable for what happened?”, stressing that “the judiciary is capable, just as the army is capable, just as all institutions are capable.”
He added, “The work of institutions must be up to this responsibility and resemble these presidents,” referring to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister.
In response to what is said that filing a lawsuit may constitute a provocation to a certain environment, he pointed out that “the issue is far from being offensive. The issue is now touching on the crisis of an entire society in Lebanon, in a segment that has become proficient in the language of hatred,” pointing out that resorting to the judiciary comes “in response to what is happening in responses and counter-reactions.”
Mahfoud expressed his optimism about the appointment of a new discriminatory public prosecutor, saying that he was “promising good news,” hoping that he would quickly address three basic files: “the port file, the return to summoning, summoning, and enforcing arrest warrants against former ministers and representatives, and the complaint file that we filed against Sheikh Naeem Qassem, who hired the occupation, and today this file.”
He stressed that “the Public Prosecutor of Cassation, according to the rules and the law, heads all public prosecutions in Lebanon, and is almost the highest partial authority in this country, and therefore today is in his court,” noting that “the new president is known for his history, his unionism, and his humanism.”
In a related context, Mahfoud refused to justify what happened as a reaction, saying: “If a video was made by individuals or a person, and it was not made by this party, go to your boulevard?
He concluded by stressing that “many of our Shiite people object to everything that is happening, completely rejecting this bad model,” adding: “These are pictures that do not resemble us, do not resemble the history of Lebanon. We, our Shiites in Lebanon, are Shiites of Jabal Amel, and they are not Shiites, neither Iran nor any other country. We are proud of them, we cling to them, they resemble us and they resemble us, and we and them will continue and we will go back to building this republic.”
