Imprisonment of Samir Geagea

On 27 February 1994, a bomb exploded in a church in Zouk Mikael called Sayidat al-Najat (Lady of Deliverance), killing 10 people. In response, Lebanese Forces members and supporters were arrested, including leader Samir Geagea, on 21 April 1994. While Geagea and the group was not found to be guilty of the church bombing, he was found guilty in June 1995 for the killing of Dany Chamoun, who was killed on 21 October 1990 alongside his family by gunmen in their home. Geagea was able to be sentenced because political assassinations were exempt from the General Amnesty Law of 1991 (Law No. 84/91). He was sentenced to death which was commuted to life in prison, where he remained until he was granted amnesty and released in July 2005 once the Syrian army withdrew and the occupation of Lebanon ended on 27 April 2005, a new government was formed under Fouad Siniora in July 2005, and the Parliament voted to grant Samir Geagea amnesty. Geagea is the only leader from the civil war who was tried and sentenced to jail for crimes committed during the war.