Jailed Christian Warlord to Be Set Free

Fox News is reporting that former Christian warlord Samir Geagea, who has been behind bars since 1994, is being set free by Lebanon within the week.  Here is part of the article which can be read in its entirety at Fox News.

Geagea, who led the powerful Christian Lebanese Forces militia during the 1975-90 civil war, has spent most of the past 11 years in solitary confinement in an underground cell at the Defense Ministry.

He is the only prominent former warlord to be jailed for opposing Syrian dominance while other ex-militia leaders benefited from a 1991 general amnesty for crimes committed during the 1975-90 civil war and some became lawmakers and Cabinet ministers. The amnesty did not apply to political assassinations.

Geagea was arrested in April 1994 and his Lebanese Forces outlawed after a bombing at a church killed 10 people. He was acquitted of the bombing but convicted on other charges. He is serving three life sentences for the assassination of political rivals in the civil war, including the bombing of a helicopter that killed then-Prime Minister Rashid Karami in 1987.

Geagea's supporters consider him a political prisoner. The human rights group Amnesty International has called for the release or retrial of Geagea and fellow militiaman Jirjis al-Khoury. Amnesty said they did not get a fair trial. The government denies this.

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