The case of the discriminatory prosecution of the Public Prosecution Office once morest the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, in the crime of embezzlement, forgery, money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion is not considered easy or ordinary, although it was accompanied by political silence, despite the size of the step that comes within the course of international investigations initiated by Switzerland and the World Cup to include regarding regarding The eight countries or more, today Salama has become a stalker…
When Switzerland sent its judicial reporter in January of the year 2020 to Lebanon, the Lebanese, along with politicians and judges, thought that it was a “joke” or that it would not reach a conclusion, even as Prime Minister Najib Mikati described Salama as “the officer in the war that we cannot do without,” the investigations expanded to include Eight countries, including France, have recently entered the line of investigations strongly.
pursuit made history
What is remarkable regarding Riad Salameh’s file is that no central bank governor in the modern history of the world has ever been prosecuted for money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion. Here, the prominent sources consider that more than one Lebanese judge convicted Riad Salameh, from the Public Prosecutor of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, to the Public Prosecutor of Mount Lebanon, on appeal, Judge Ghada Aoun, down to Judge Jean Tannous, according to Mansour, and it is noteworthy that the four judges do not agree with each other, and thus the story It is no longer related to skepticism or that there is a judge targeting Riad Salameh.”
The sources familiar with the file through Al-Nashra see that “it is natural that investigations are obstructed, especially since we live in a country that is not accustomed to such a step, that is, to pursue violators or perpetrators.” The sources consider that “the biggest motive for the Lebanese prosecution process is the seriousness of European prosecutions.” Salama’s file, which includes a banking and financial complex that extends from Asia to America and other countries, and therefore is not easy to pursue.”
“Data” is the basis for the pursuits
Beyond that, dealing with Salameh is not easy, especially with regard to “data”, which is the basis of the prosecutions, and he occupies the governance of the Banque du Liban and the presidency of the Special Investigation Commission, and this gives him the ability to control and block the data. From here, according to the sources, international cooperation is of great importance, and it prompted the Lebanese judges to take action in the file, pointing out that “the issue of investigations is difficult and takes years of work, and the examples that show how many countries are tormented by financial investigations, including the case of Uzbekistan,” stressing that “investigations with The governor of the Central Bank will develop towards bankers and people in his immediate surroundings, i.e. his family and his workers,” revealing that “France will take an advanced step in this regard, and it is possible that the French judiciary will resort to issuing an arrest warrant once morest Salama’s friend Anna Kosakova.”
In summary, Judge Ghassan Oweidat moved and filed a lawsuit once morest the governor, but the Appeals Public Prosecutor in Beirut, Judge Ziad Abi Haidar, refused to receive the Salameh brothers’ file and asked not to register it in the registry… The most important question: What will Judge Oweidat do today in front of Abu Haidar’s behavior? Should he resort to the palm of his hand? As he did with Judge Ghada Aoun?
