On Oct. 20, Lebanon’s highest court issued a landmark ruling, sentencing two members of the local Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) to death. The verdict marks the end of a decadeslong case that prosecuted Habib Shartouni for the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel during the country’s civil war. For some Lebanese, the sentence provided a sense of justice, while others suspect that political motivations were behind the ruling.
Gemayel, who was a prominent leader within the predominantly Maronite Catholic Kataeb (Phalange) Party, has been a highly revered figure by Christians both inside the party and out. Shortly after his election in 1982, he had agreed to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Israel, which was opposed by several leftist groups in the country. In response, Shartouni planted a bomb outside the Kataeb headquarters on Sept. 14, 1982, killing Gemayel and at least 32 others.
