Lebanese Forces to LBC CEO: “Let the Law Take Its Course”
The longstanding dispute between the Lebanese Forces and LBC ratcheted up a notch on Wednesday with a press release from the Lebanese Forces media office reiterating that the party would pursue legal action against the television station since “the Lebanese Forces is unable to reach solutions over the disputed matters with CEO of LBC.”
The Lebanese Forces statement said that the decision to take the “legal path” was motivated by their knowledge that “everyone understands the truth about who founded LBC and who owns it.”
“The Lebanese public has the right to know about the Lebanese Forces news, its views and positions on current issues,” the statement read, “It also has the right to know about the views and positions of all political factions….especially amid this delicate phase and the continuous attack against project, proposals and symbols of the Lebanese Forces as a party.”
The Lebanese Forces statement said that LBC’s chairman, Pierre Daher, had chosen to take revenge against the Lebanese Forces rather than follow legal procedures dictated by the Lebanese Forces request that they be able to exercise the “legitimate right” to convey their opinion.
The statement said that LBC gave Lebanese Forces opponents plenty of airtime to express their views, and pointed to the lack of Lebanese Forces guests on the station’s political talk shows as proof of the station’s anti-Lebanese Forces slant.
“The practices of LBC’s chairman are incompatible with the basic rules and norms of the media and contradict the history of the channel,” the statement read, “Even in presenting political news; it exercises a policy toward the Lebanese Forces that almost parallels the policy of ambiguity that was exercised during the days of Syrian tutelage.”
The statement urged the station to “realise the mistake,” “rectify the path at the necessary speed” and let the law take its course.