President Michel Aoun on Friday received the Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan Moussa Al-Hage with talks featuring high on the circumstances of his arrest at the Naqoura border crossing as he was returning to Lebanon from the occupied Palestinian territories.

“Pope of Rome is the only one empowered to resolve archbishops’ penal matters. The military courts should not have any jurisdiction in this regard,” a judicial source said. 

He had been questioned for 12 hours earlier this week upon his return from Israel with large quantities of medicines, foodstuffs, and canned goods, in addition to $460,000.

A military court summoned him for further questioning Wednesday, which drew angry reactions from Christian leaders.