Editing Samir Geagea (section)

== The post-war period (1990) ==
In February 1990 General [[Michel Aoun]] launched an [[War of Liberation (1989–1990)|offensive]] attempting to dislodge Geagea’s Lebanese Forces from East Beirut. During the fighting the Christian areas of Beirut suffered greater destruction and more casualties than at any time during 15 years of civil war.<ref>Middle East International No 369, 16 February 1990, Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]]; [[Jim Muir]] pp.5,6</ref>

On 13 October 1990, Syria ousted General Aoun from the presidential palace in Baabda. Aoun was heading an interim government which filled the void in the absence of a presidential election after the end of President Amin Gemayel's term in office. With Aoun out of the picture, Geagea was now the only leader in the Christian heartland. Geagea was subsequently offered ministerial portfolios in the new Lebanese government (formed on [[Christmas Eve]]).<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFDB133EF936A15751C1A966958260&scp=7&sq=geagea&st=nyt Lebanon's Cabinet Named, Then Boycotted]. ''The New York Times'', 25 December 1990. Retrieved on 28 February 2008.</ref>

=== Relations with the Kataeb party ===
In addition to being the LF leader, Geagea retained his seat in the [[Kataeb]] [[Politburo]]. In 1992, he ran for the [[Kataeb]] presidential election but lost to [[Georges Saadeh]] with whom the conflict grew. Later that year, Saadeh dismissed Geagea and all members of what was known as the "Rescue Committee" from the party.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DD153AF935A25752C0A965958260 Split Threatens Lebanon's Biggest Christian Party]. ''The New York Times'', 16 January 1993. Retrieved on 28 February 2008.</ref> The committee was formed by several members of the Politburo and districts leaders loyal to the LF and Geagea.

=== Arrest and trial ===
There was increased pressure by Syria on Geagea to accept the [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon|Syrian presence]] or face charges. Prior to his arrest, he was contacted by several sympathetic politicians and warned about the forthcoming proceedings and offered safe passage out of Lebanon. Geagea refused to leave.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.meib.org/articles/0405_ld.htm|title=Dossier: Samir Geagea Leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF) movement|access-date=5 July 2008|format=.html|author=Ziad K. Abdel Nour|work=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040529013909/http://www.meib.org/articles/0405_ld.htm|archive-date=29 May 2004}}</ref> The Syrians exploited the vulnerabilities of the amnesty law promulgated by then president [[Elias Hrawi]] for all the crimes and atrocities committed before 1990. This law also stated that any crime committed after that date will void the effect of the amnesty. On 26 January 1994, Geagea went to [[Qardaha]], Syria to offer his condolences to President [[Hafez al-Assad]], following the death of his son [[Bassel al-Assad|Bassel]] in a car accident.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nader Moumneh|title=The Lebanese Forces: Emergence and Transformation of the Christian Resistance|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2018|page=201|isbn=9780761870760}}</ref> During his visit to Syria, president's brother-in-law, [[Mohammed Makhlouf]], asked him to talk with Syrian officers, but Geagea said that he only came for the funeral, which was considered as a refusal to cooperate with the Syrians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lebanondebate.com/news/418081|script-title=ar:25 سنة على زيارة جعجع الى سوريا... تفاصيل تروى للمرة الاولى|website=lebanondebate.com|language=ar|date=21 January 2019}}</ref>

On 27 February 1994, a [[Saydet al-Najat Church Explosion (Lebanon, 1994)|bomb exploded in the Church of Sayyidet Al Najet]] (Our Lady of Deliverance) in the locality of [[Zouk Mikael]] killing 9 worshipers and injuring many. It is unknown who perpetrated the bombing and it was ultimately attributed to some shadowy groups, but Geagea was accused of the crime solely for the purpose of voiding the effect of the amnesty law of which he benefited, in the same way as all political and militia leaders from other communities and regions were benefiting despite their many unspeakable crimes throughout the Lebanese civil war.<ref name="LLcrime"/><ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E3DF143AF93BA15751C0A962958260 Blast in Lebanon Church Kills 9 and Injures 60], ''The New York Times'', 28 February 1994. Retrieved on 27 March 2008.</ref> On 23 March 1994, the Lebanese government ordered the dissolution of the LF and Geagea's deputy Fouad Malek was taken into custody.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E6D8133CF937A15750C0A962958260 Lebanon Detains Christian in Church Blast], ''The New York Times'', 24 March 1994. Retrieved on 27 March 2008.</ref> Geagea himself was arrested on 21 April 1994 in his village [[Ghidras|Ghadras]], on charges of ordering the church bombing, of attempting to undermine government authority by "maintaining a militia in the guise of a political party", of instigating acts of violence, and of committing assassinations during the [[Lebanese Civil War]]. He was accused of the assassinations of former prime minister [[Rashid Karami]],<ref name=alawin05>{{cite journal|last=Alagha|first=Joseph|title=Hizballah after the Syrian Withdrawal|journal=Middle East Report|date=Winter 2005|volume=237|issue=237|pages=34–39|jstor=30042473|doi=10.2307/30042473}}</ref> National Liberal Party leader [[Dany Chamoun]] and his family, and former LF member Elias Al Zayek. He was also accused of attempting to kill Minister [[Michel Murr]]. He was acquitted in the church case but given four life sentences in the other cases. Geagea would become the only wartime leader who went to jail because of crimes committed during the war and after the [[Taif Agreement|Taif Accord]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Practicing sectarianism: archival and ethnographic interventions on Lebanon |date=2023 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-3109-0 |editor-last=Deeb |editor-first=Lara |location=Stanford, California |editor-last2=Nalbantian |editor-first2=Tsolin |editor-last3=Sbaiti |editor-first3=Nadya}}</ref> [[Amnesty International]] criticized Geagea's trial and conviction, citing that it was politically motivated and unjust.<ref name="bio"/><ref name="LA Times">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-25-mn-17158-story.html "Lebanese Ex-Warlord Sentenced in Rival's Slaying : Mideast: Christian is the first militia chief convicted of civil war crimes. Many received amnesty. Eleven associates are also sentenced."], ''Los Angeles Times'', 25 June 1995. Retrieved on 14 October 2016.</ref><ref name="LCHRF">{{cite web|last=Amnesty International|title=Annual Report on Lebanon (1996)|work=Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation|access-date=22 June 2009|url=http://www.clhrf.com/reports/amesty96.htm}}</ref> 

=== Imprisonment ===
Geagea was incarcerated for 11 years in a small windowless solitary cell in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense in [[Yarze]].<ref>[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/thematic51/34.htm UN Commission on Human Rights – Torture – Special Rapporteur's Report]. ''United Nations Economic and Social Council'', 12 January 1995. Retrieved on 22 February 2008.</ref> His health status was jeopardized and he lost weight dramatically due to the unsanitary condition of the ill lit and poorly ventilated prison cell.<ref name="USDS">{{Cite conference|publisher=U.S. Department of State|last=U.S. Department of State|title=Lebanon Human Rights Practices, 1995|access-date=11 July 2009|date=March 1996|url=http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1995_hrp_report/95hrp_report_nea/Lebanon.html|archive-date=8 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508224433/http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1995_hrp_report/95hrp_report_nea/Lebanon.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was deprived of access to media and the outside world and was only allowed to see his wife and close relatives. All of Geagea's conversations were monitored and he was barred from talking politics with anyone.<ref name="Lang">{{Cite news |last=Daragahi|first=Borzou|title =In Lebanon, rivals unconvinced by warlord's apology|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 July 2009|date=15 December 2008|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-15-fg-warlord15-story.html}}</ref>

For the duration of his incarceration, Geagea maintained that he meditated and reviewed his actions during the war to determine if what he did was right. He busied himself with reading literature, [[Hindu philosophy]], the [[Qur'an]], [[Christian theology]] and [[Christian mysticism|mysticism]] namely the works of [[Jesuit]] priest [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin|Teilhard de Chardin]].<ref name="LLcrime"/><ref name="Lang"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-15-fg-warlord15-story.html|title=An ex-warlord's act of contrition|date=15 December 2008|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

=== Release ===
Leaders of the [[Cedar Revolution]] considered the Geagea trials and sentences to be unjust, politically motivated, and orchestrated by the vassal government that ruled Lebanon during the Syrian occupation to oust Geagea from the political scene and dismantle the [[Lebanese Forces]].<ref name="SB">{{cite web|last=Radio Sawt Beirut International |title=Lebanese Political Parties- Lebanese Forces |format=SawtBeirut |access-date=7 July 2009 |url=http://www.sawtbeirut.com/lebanese-party/lebanese-forces.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123034909/http://sawtbeirut.com/lebanese-party/lebanese-forces.htm |archive-date=23 January 2009 }}</ref> When supporters of the Cedar Revolution won the majority in the [[2005 Lebanese general election|2005 parliamentary elections]], they lobbied for an amnesty law to free Geagea from his disputed sentences.<ref name="SB"/>

The Lebanese Parliament passed an amnesty bill on 18 July 2005 to free Geagea. Given the sectarian balance of Lebanon, three dozen Islamist criminals were released with Geagea. The bill was subsequently signed by the then president [[Émile Lahoud]].<ref name="BBC"/> Geagea was released from prison on 26 July 2005 and left Lebanon for medical care.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4716701.stm Lebanese ex-warlord is released], ''BBC News'', 26 July 2005. Retrieved on 27 July 2007.</ref> He returned to [[Lebanon]] on 25 October (his birthday), and lived in the Cedars region, his ancestral homeland, in northern Lebanon until 11 December 2006, after which he moved to a hotel in [[Bzoummar]] in [[Keserwan District|Keserwan]]. On 30 June 2007, he moved to a new residence in [[Maarab]], Keserwan.