BEIRUT: Judge Jean Fahed handed down two death sentences to fugitives Joseph and Tohme Zouqi for the murder of Kataeb Party members Nasri Marouni and Salim Assi, a judicial source told The Daily Star.
Following the verdict, Elie Marouni said, “After 10 tireless years we were able to get a trial, albeit in absentia,” news website Lebanon Debate reported Friday.
“The criminals have been able to ... live normal lives at a time when two martyrs have fallen,” he added.
The judge ruled that the convicted persons must pay LL100 million (about $66,000) each to the families of Marouni and Assi, and LL150 million to Rashid Assi, LL75 million to Elias Issa and LL50 million Roger Ghra, all of whom were injured in the incident.
Judge Fahed also stripped the fugitives of their civil rights and issued warrants for their arrest.
The Special Judicial Council, headed by Fahed, Friday also handed down the verdicts for two other people implicated in the case, Walid Edward Zouqi and Nicholas Homsi. Zouqi was sentenced to six months of imprisonment, but Homsi was acquitted because of a lack of sufficient evidence of his involvement in the murders.