The Execution of Samir Zeinoun (Zaynoun)
Thirteen days after their arrest, they were moved to Lebanese Forces Intelligence
Headquarters in Karantina; Samir and George were interrogated while Tony was moved
to another cell.
At the time the family and friends of the 3 brothers were under
the impression that they had been kidnapped by the Syrian Army in Lebanon.
Later they were to discover they were arrested by their own comrades in the Lebanese
Forces.
Not being able to see her sons and desparate, their mother Marie on several occasions sought an audience
with the head of Lebanon ’s Maronite Catholic Church, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir to help facilitate her request.
She was refused a meeting on every occasion.
Months later, Tony Zeinoun’s wife and her mother happened to be outside their home in
Dbayeh heard load speakers blaring “traitors will be executed”, “traitors like Samir Zeinoun will be executed”,
“the traitor Samir Zeinoun has been executed”.
The Lebanese Forces then prevented
the Red Cross from collecting his body; they prevented people from coming to the
family house to pay their respects and banned any mourning processions from happening.
The family was then forced to take the coffin to south Lebanon in a taxi for the
funeral.
Al Massira Magazine, a media outlet for the Lebanese Forces published Samir Geagea’s
hand written order of Samir Zeinoun’s execution. The charge was that he was plotting
the assassination of Samir Geagea.
Samir Zeinoun was executed on 18th January 1988; Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir must have
had prior knowledge of the execution as he sent Father Yaacoub al Badawi to give
Samir Zeinoun his last rights.
According to Father al Badawi Samir Zeinoun’s last
statement was, “I am not a traitor, I am not a traitor, I am not a traitor; I would
ask that the Christians of Lebanon rally behind Samir Geagea the saviour of Christians
and I would ask that I be buried in my mother’s village of Kawkaba”.