Ex-Minister Blames US Pressure on Lebanon's Justice System

The release of Israeli collaborator and spy in Lebanon, Amer Fakhouri, has triggered a wave of negative reactions and protests in the country as Fakhouri had been charged with committing many crimes, especially overseeing torture and killing of several inmates at Lebanon's Khiam jail, and his release under various pretexts, including passed statute of limitations, is unacceptable. This comes at a time when US interventions to save Fakhouri from punishment in Lebanon have been clear. Lebanon recently summoned the US ambassador to the country to protest these interventions.

"I believe even thinking about Fakhouri's release was a betrayal. He is a mercenary of the Zionist regime and we believe that there is no peace, no negotiations and no surrender to the enemy", Hassan Murad a Lebanese ex-minister told MNA.

"There is no internal or external excuse for his release. The timing of the verdict is questionable, as Lebanese people cannot protest against it because of the outbreak of coronavirus," he added.



The former Lebanese minister went on to say about political parties' response to the issue that Lebanese parties have issued statements opposing the ruling but can stop it by exerting political pressure. "This case proved that everyone should try more to keep the independence of the judiciary system," Murad added.

"The US has no doubt intervened, but Lebanon has the right to try and punish anyone who holds its citizenship and those who have betrayed their homeland and we believe that this requires an independent judiciary without internal and external interference," Hassan Murad said about US involvement in the case.

Murad added that the court dropped Fakhouri's charges saying the statute of limitations had passed. But he stressed that "Fakhouri's crimes of mercenary and spying could not be removed over time because Lebanon has provided many martyrs in its battle with the Zionist enemy. We, as Arabs, Muslims and Christians, have a land that its center is Quds and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and we must support this. Anyone who cooperates with the Zionist enemy cannot be freed from punishment".

In the end, Hassan Murad stressed that no country has the right to interfere in Lebanon's affairs, especially the judiciary, and to exert pressure on it.