Lawyer Elie Mahfoud, head of the Movement for Change, said on Sunday that “treason is when a group possesses weapons outside the scope of legitimacy,” in reference to the Lebanese militant Shiite group Hezbollah.

“Treason is when a militia is formed and orders are taken from a foreign country. Treason is when you earn money from that country,” Mahfoud said in reply to Sheikh Ahmed Kabalan.

“I seek to rectify the words of Sheikh Ahmed Kabalan who considered neutrality in times of Israeli occupation and Islamic State threat, to be treason,” Mahfoud said, noting that “treason is when a group holds weapons outside the scope of legitimacy, forms a militia, takes orders from a foreign country and earns money from it.”

“Treason is when you hold negotiations, make swap deals and help IS members escape.”

“Treason is when a state-within-a-state is established on the ruins of a country that has been shattered by a religious militia. Treason is when young Lebanese people are sent to fight beyond the border. Treason is to claim the presence of a so-called resistance whose powers had expired over two decades ago,” he added.

“Treason is when the state is undermined, people are impoverished and Lebanon is turned into an isolated island thanks to your delusional resistance.”