The silent return of former South Lebanon Army (SLA) military commander Amer Elias Fakhoury to Beirut, through Rafik Hariri International Airport, caused an uproar in the political, judicial and popular circles.
Fakhoury was in charge of the Khiam detention camp within the SLA, which was led by Antoine Lahad.
He came back to the country despite a 15-year prison sentence in absentia, after he was convicted of dealing with Israel and arresting and torturing Lebanese citizens during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Recognizing the seriousness of the incident, security sources were quick to alleviate the situation, and announced that the Lebanese General Security “arrested the former commander of the Khiam prison… a few days ago at Rafik Hariri International Airport.”
They added that the man was still under arrest pending investigations.
However, a judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the return of Fakhoury to Lebanon without his arrest was “100 percent legal”. The source explained that the offense he committed was dropped with the passing of time.
“Fakhoury was sentenced by the Military Court in 1998, and convicted of the crime of communicating with Israel; but 20 years later, the offense is dropped, so he cannot be stopped and retried,” the source underlined.
Fakhoury served as the commander of a military battalion in the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia, which was guarding the notorious Khiam prison.
At the age of 56, he fled to Israel with the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces on May 25, 2000, and then left for the United States.
Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to Hezbollah, revealed on Thursday the news of the man’s arrival at Beirut airport.
