In Bsharri, anger and grief were palpable on Monday during the funerals of Haytham and Malek Tok, who were killed on Saturday in Qornet el-Sawda for reasons that are still unknown. The reasons are attributed to a problem over the demarcation of land and the exploitation of water resources between the two cazas of Bsharri and Dinniye.
Investigations are still going on, while appeals for calm and restraint are being made from all sides. In Bsharri, firing into the air has been banned and the village of Bqaa Safrine has observed a day of mourning as a sign of solidarity with Bsharri.
Haytham and Malek Tok were killed by shots of unknown origin in the Bqaa Safrine sector, an area bordering Bsharri and Dinniye.
Contradictory information was provided regarding the number of people questioned for the purposes of the investigation. Some say they are five, others put the number at around twenty, including the vice-president of the Bqaa Safrine town council and three shepherds who used to roam the area where the murder took place. It should be noted that they are all being heard as witnesses.
In any case, all those who spoke at the funeral on Monday said it was essential that the legal proceedings should take their course in order to identify the culprits and impose the penalties they deserve.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Bourtos Al-Rai stressed this point during his funeral oration. “If justice had done its job, this tragedy would not have happened. We fear that the failure of justice will continue, that the culprits will escape punishment, and that the law of the jungle will prevail,” he warned.
He added: “We demand justice. No more, no less. We are also calling for justice with regard to the demarcation of land” between the two cazas.
The Patriarch noted that the inhabitants of Bsharri are “in favor of a solution,” adding that “what happened was not a simple incident.”
The funeral was attended by a large number of political figures, including MPs Sethrida Geagea, William Tok, Michel Moawad, Nadim Gemayel, Achraf Rifi, Razi Hajj, Fadi Karam, Antoine Habchi, Jihad Pakradouni, Yazbeck Wehbe and Michel Doueihy, former MP Gebran Tok and Mrs Myriam Tok Skaff. MP Tony Frangieh visited in the morning to offer his condolences to the families of the two victims.
Despite the calls for restraint, warnings were also issued against delays in the investigation.
“The blood spilt by Malek and Haytham drew the lines we were calling for. To those who do not know us, we say: We will not squander the blood that has been shed, and we will not make concessions on our land or our dignity”, said MP William Tok at the end of the funeral service.
He called on “those who are banking on the patience and wisdom of the inhabitants of Bsharri not to make mistakes, because calls for restraint do not mean that we are going to be lenient in this matter.”
Warning from the family
In a press release issued in the afternoon, the Tok Family League pointed out that cadastral work between the Bsharri and Dinniye cazas “had made it possible to demarcate the boundary between the two since the Moutassarifiya,” thereby rejecting “the pretexts put forward to justify the crime.” It stressed that Haytham Tok had been killed by “a professional sniper.” It also denounced “those who draw their power from excessive force to harm individuals and property,” insisting that “this excessive force can destroy the country.”
The League also stressed Bsharri’s support to the State and the army, but said it was upset that “the army’s bullets killed Malek.”
The League condemned the removal of the car targeted by the shots from the scene of the crime, “even though it represented undeniable evidence,” and called on the army command to “clarify without delay the circumstances in which the murder occurred so that the perpetrator of the shots is punished.”
Thinly veiled threats were contained in the League’s press release, which warned against “the continuation of such behaviour,” stressing that “Bsharri also has an excess of force that it uses in the service of the law.”
Sethrida Geagea said in a statement that she contacted the commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun, who informed her that “the residents of Bsharri who had been arrested after the incident would remain for some time with the investigators for the purposes of the ongoing investigations.”
She insisted that she would follow the case “to the end to ensure that justice is done in the case of Qornet el-Sawda”. Mrs Geagea added: “Bsharri remains committed to civil peace and the law, but we are anxious to know the truth and to see the criminals quickly handed over to the authorities.”
Dinniye’s solidarity with Bsharri
Meanwhile, the Federation of Municipalities of Dinniye expressed its solidarity with Bsharri and, in a press release, insisted on the need to get to the bottom of this affair, rejecting discord.
It deplored “the unfortunate incident” at Qornet el-Sawda and offered its condolences to the people of Bsharri. “Whoever is responsible for the murder must be punished”, as announced in the text.
It also rejected talk of a conflict between Bsharri and Dinniye, and called on “all politicians to withdraw this subject from political discussions,” adding that “the army is the sole guarantor of the country’s security.”
The Federation of Municipalities of Dinniye did not comment on the question of the geographical demarcation between the two cazas, arguing that this is a matter for the competent authorities and the courts to solve.
