Zarazir says she's afraid but hasn't 'bought a gun'
MP Cynthia Zarazir announced Thursday in remarks to al-Jadeed TV that she is “afraid” but “has not bought a gun,” clarifying earlier statements published by Annahar newspaper.
In her remarks to al-Jadeed, Zarazir denied that she has asked Army chief General Joseph Aoun for a permission to carry a gun into parliament’s building.
She explained that she rather asked Aoun about the “legal procedures” for obtaining a firearms license and the places in which she would be allowed to carry a firearm under such a license.
“The Army Commander explained to her the details of the Lebanese law and parliamentary immunity, under which she does not get searched, voicing surprise that she moves around without being escorted by guards from the security forces,” al-Jadeed said.
Stressing that she has not purchased a gun until the moment, Zarazir said her call with Aoun was aimed at asking about the legality of such a step, adding: “I’m afraid and I don’t have bodyguards.”
In an earlier statement, Zarazir clarified that the call was to ask about “personal protection” during her “daily movements,” and “not related in any way to bullying and harassment inside parliament.”
“Talking about carrying a gun inside parliament was aimed at condemning and objecting against the bullying and harassment of women inside parliament, and not as reported by the article’s writer,” the MP explained.
“Parliament is not a safe area for women and it has witnessed a recurrence of the harassment that women face in society. It is a violence sponsored by the system and its harassing MPs, and women pay its price from their lives and psychological and physical health,” she lamented.
Annahar’s article says that Zarazir had 10 days ago heard a threat against her life.
“Your price is one bullet,” the daily quoted Zarazir as saying.
According to Zarazir, the phrase pushed her to ask the army chief whether she has the right to carry a gun into parliament.
“I’ve bought a gun and I will only enter parliament carrying it, as long as the law allows me to do so, as explained to me by General Aoun,” Annahar quoted Zarazir as saying.
The statements come two days after Zarazir and fellow MPs Halima Qaaqour and Paula Yacoubian faced verbal attacks from male colleagues during a legislative session. Zarazir also made shocking allegations about the bullying and sexual harassment she has faced since becoming an MP.
“Sit down, wait till the end and be quiet,” Berri told Qaaqour at the beginning of the session when she objected to the manner in which a vote was being conducted.
And when Zarazir stood up for her colleague later in the session, MP Qabalan Qabalan of Berri's bloc interfered to make fun of her family name and slam the three female MPs as “cockroaches.”
Zarazir later decried in a statement that she has regularly faced sexual catcalling from male colleagues. She also said that she has been bullied over her family name, has been denied a proper parking spot for her car and had been given a "filthy" parliament office in which she found rotten food, "used and unused condoms" and "Playboy magazines."
Source: Naharnet
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