Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Tuesday lashed out at the Justice Minister's request to refer his oil-related statements to the Judiciary so as to be probed, saying that it is his duty as a lawmaker to question any act that may seem as dubious to him.
"It is my duty as a lawmaker to inform the Lebanese about the hidden aspects of the oil exploration project," he said in a press conference held in Saifi.
"By referring my statements to the judiciary, you have officially allowed political meddling into the judicial authority's work," he stressed. "The Judiciary is being used for political purposes."
Gemayel wondered why Speaker Nabih Berri, MPs Walid Jumblat and Boutros Harb, former PM Najib Mikati and other officials who openly cast doubt over the power barges deal were not referred to the Judiciary so that their stances would be probed as well as his.
"You are being discriminating as you are only seeking to muzzle the opposition forces and pressure free people in Lebanon," he noted. "This referral indicts you because it encloses a blatant alteration as you premeditatedly omitted my stances related to the power barges deal which you are trying to evade due to the watertight evidence proving its illegality."