02 November 2012

BEIRUT: Nadim Koteich, the Lebanese television presenter accused of inciting protesters to storm a government house, gave his testimony Thursday at the Central Criminal Investigations Department.

Koteich arrived at 10 a.m. to deliver his testimony to Brig. Gen. Joseph al-Helou, head of the CCID, after Ahmad Jamil Jezzini, a Beirut resident, filed a lawsuit against the TV host for encouraging protesters to storm the Grand Serail, disturbing civil peace and inciting people to commit acts of violence.

After the session, supervised by General Prosecutor Hatem Madi, Koteich was released but not allowed to leave the country.

Speaking to reporters outside the Justice Palace, Koteich said he would cooperate with the judiciary, but called the lawsuit politically motivated.

“The report that was filed against me is political and the political group that is affected by breaking the wall of fear in Lebanon is responsible for it,” Koteich said following his 45-minute testimonial session.

“We are cooperative with the judiciary but the battle continues in politics ... We will not remain silent anymore in the republic of arms and that is our message,” he added.

Koteich said that some parties aim to portray him as a threat to civil peace, and that the Ayoub drone launched by Hezbollah into Israel last month was the actual danger.

“What is important to us is the overthrow of the republic of arms and the overthrow of the arms regime and that regime will fall, will fall, will fall,” Koteich said.

Addressing thousands of mourners during the funeral of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in Beirut’s Martyrs Square on Oct. 21, Koteich called for a march toward the nearby Grand Serail, the headquarters of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in an apparent bid to force him to resign.

“Whoever wants to bury Wissam al-Hasan and go home is free to do so, but there is someone in the Serail who should be politically buried,” Koteich, a March 14 coalition figure, told the crowds during the funeral.

“Break all the barriers, in one direction toward the Serail,” he said, adding: “Down with Najib Mikati ... oh boys and girls, let’s all head to the Serail.”

Hasan headed the Internal Security Forces Information Branch and had close ties with the Hariri family.

The intelligence chief was killed on Oct. 19 in a car bombing in the Beirut district of Ashrafieh.

The March 14 coalition blames Syrian President Bashar Assad for the assassination and holds the Cabinet responsible for the crime.

The opposition has been calling on Mikati and his government to resign, accusing it of covering political assassinations in the country.

After Koteich’s call, protesters headed to the Grand Serail and clashed with police stationed at the government headquarters before heeding pleas by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to retreat.

Several protesters and 15 police members were injured in the clashes.

Copyright The Daily Star 2012.