Chartouni, accused of assassinating Bachir Gemayel, back to forefront

Habib Chartouni is back.  An interview was held with him a few days ago, yielding long lost memories of the incident that shook the entire country. Habib Chartouni accused with the assassination of former Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel on September 14th 1982, set a black day both on the calendar and on his record.

This assassination has since divided the Lebanese people into two parties: those who see in Chartouni a hero, and those who say that he is a criminal who stole the Lebanese dream in building a state and liberating the country from any foreign domination.           

After thirty years, the division roars again, as the Syrian Social Nationalist Party and activists launched a “justice campaign” for Habib Chartouni. The first step of that campaign is a sit-in outside Ain al-Tineh residence.           

On the other hand, the Lebanese Forces lawyers called on General Prosecutor Judge Said Mirza to summon the journalist Afif Diab who held the interview and to ask him about the time and place of his meeting with Chartouni.         

In this context, the head of the Kataeb party Amin Gemayel stressed that he “was not able to pursue the trials during his mandate as a President, due to failure of the Judiciary during that time”. He noted that today the Kataeb party insists on arresting Chartouni and taking appropriate legal action against him.         

In a statement to LBCI, Gemayel said that the Kataeb will never forget this case and will keep calling for prosecuting the criminals, hoping that Chartouni will be handed over to the Lebanese authorities amid the Syrian revolution.             

Bashir Gemayel was killed by a bomb inside the headquarters of the Kataeb Party in Achrafieh, Beirut. Chartouni was arrested at once. He confessed, first to his interrogators and later at a news conference, to detonating the bomb. Chartouni was handed over to Lebanon's judicial system  where he served eight years in Roumieh prison without an official trial, until October 13 when he escaped during the final Syrian offensive on Lebanon.


For the full LBCI report please watch the above video