Lebanese Member of Parliament Ashraf Rifi, a former justice minister, intends to pursue legal action against the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah over the group’s crimes against the country, the Saudi state-owned Al-Arabiya reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the intended prosecution of the group comes in response to, among other things, Hezbollah’s killings of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri, former brigadier-general Wissam Adnan al-Hassan, and Lieutenant Samer Hanna, an officer in Lebanon’s air force.
As a first step in seeking to prosecute the group, Rifi would reportedly consider disarming Hezbollah. Legal action, for which the case files are ready, against the group would follow, the Saudi outlet reported.
Accountability for Hezbollah is essential to Lebanon’s future, former justice minister Ashraf Rifi argued, according to Al-Arabiya, warning that without justice for the group’s actions, the country cannot function as a true state.
Hezbollah has done nothing for the Palestinians, Rifi says
Rifi continued, stating that Hezbollah has accomplished nothing for the Palestinians, whom the terror group uses to justify its possession and use of arms it acquired from Iran, Al-Arabiya cited him as saying.
“With nothing but our bare chests, I can say the Lebanese have managed to contain it,” Rifi reportedly said, referring to how Hezbollah has turned these weapons on the Lebanese people.
He said Hezbollah’s disarmament is occurring and slowly moving toward a “happy ending,” adding that neither Lebanon, the Arab world, nor the West would accept Iranian weapons in Lebanon; weapons that were never really tools of “resistance,” the Saudi outlet reported.
“Save what remains of Lebanon”
“Put your head on your shoulders and your feet on the ground. You have fallen. The weapon you claim protects me could not protect your leaders, nor protect you personally, nor protect your family or your community,” Rifi reportedly said in a message to Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem. “We, the pluralistic Lebanese society, are protected by the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces. Any weapon outside state authority that defies national consensus is, in my view, a liability, not an asset. There is no need for stubbornness. Save what remains of your people. Save what remains of Lebanese society. Save what remains of Lebanon. Enough with reckless adventures and empty claims.”
The Lebanese politician continued, saying Hezbollah has been severely weakened, without strong leadership, and accused the group of having turned Lebanon from the “Switzerland of the East” into a terrorist camp and a hub for Captagon production.