Summoned yesterday by the first investigating judge of Mount Lebanon Nicolas Mansour, on the basis of proceedings initiated by the prosecutor at the Court of Appeal of Mount Lebanon, Ghada Aoun, for “defamation” of the President of the Republic, the six activists who had presented a legal request last July to have the mental health of Michel Aoun assessed, did not appear. The day before, they had brought before the plenary assembly of the Court of Cassation an action for state liability for “gross negligence” by Ms. Aoun and Mr. Mansour. Action which has the effect of removing the control of these two magistrates on the file, until the instance settles the question. As the assembly has been paralyzed since January due to a loss of quorum due to the retirement of several of its members, the questioning of the activists can only take place after the appointment of at least one president of the chamber of the Court of Cassation. The chamber presidents who are currently part of the plenary assembly are in fact four in number, while the quorum required for the meeting is five of the ten members who legally make up the body.
Activists Nawal Méouchi, Isabelle Eddé, Hussein Ataya, Antoine Courban, Raymond Mitri and Salim Mouzannar, members of TMT, a collective from the October 17 movement, had asked the Mount Lebanon Court of First Instance on July 12, personal status issues and chaired by Labib Salhab, to order an expert report to examine Mr. Aoun’s capacity to perform his duties as Head of State. Their request was rejected by the court a week later.
In the meantime, Judge Aoun, known to be close to the Aounist camp, had hastened to initiate a public criminal action against them for defamation of the President of the Republic, referring their file shortly after to the first investigating judge of the Mount Lebanon, Nicolas Mansour. Which had immediately summoned them to appear. Using their right not to respond personally to their summons, the activists had presented procedural objections through their lawyers. “We notably raised the fact that asking for a medical expertise, to know if a man of a specific age (87 years old) is fit to lead a country, does not constitute a crime”, indicates Amine Bachir, one of the lawyers. This is “a free request”, different from a “contentious” procedure which involves a dispute and an adversary, he underlines. However, the formal defect appeal was quickly dismissed on August 18 by Judge Mansour, who is also reputed to be close to the Aounists. The activists then appealed to the indictment chamber chaired by Jamil Houssami, which also dismissed them (December 16). Brought to cassation, the rejection of the exceptions was ratified at the end of February by the 3rd criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation, chaired by Souheir Haraké. Following this decision, the examining magistrate had free rein to fix a hearing devoted to the interrogations for yesterday.
Ready to go to jail…
“We have used, and not abused, a remedy authorized by law”, specifies Mr. Bachir, in reference to the action for the responsibility of the State. He evokes the “multiple” legal remedies which “abuse” the politicians involved in the double explosion at the port of Beirut against the investigating judge at the Court of Justice, Tarek Bitar, in charge of the investigation. “It’s give and take”, proclaims for his part the activist Nawal Méouchi. “When they no longer hinder the action of Judge Bitar, who is looking into the crime of the century, we will do the same concerning the action of Judges Aoun and Mansour, who are investigating our legitimate request”, launches- she. “I would be ready to go to prison for the ‘crime’ (of defamation) of which the two magistrates accuse us, in return for the reactivation of the port file, and the conviction and arrest of the guilty politicians”, launches she.
Amine Bachir evokes in this wake a policy of double standards within the judiciary. “For the convenience of influential parties, justice is accelerated when you want to make it execute a political agenda,” he denounces. “The criminal proceedings initiated by Judge Aoun are progressing very quickly, while our civil action is still pending,” notes the lawyer. And to explain: “We appealed last summer against the decision of the court of first instance which had decreed in July that we do not have the right to request an expert report on the state of health of President Aoun. To date, the case has not been decided, or even examined by the Court of Appeal,” he laments.
ordinary citizen
The lawyer also reveals that President Aoun has become a civil party in the action led by the Mount Lebanon appeal prosecutor. “During a hearing where I represented my clients before Judge Mansour, I was surprised to see the Head of State being represented by a lawyer. An unusual situation to say the least. “By becoming a civil party, President Aoun has placed himself in the position of the adversary”, he observes, believing that “he has undermined the Presidency of the Republic by involving it in personal disputes” . “In doing so, the president placed himself under the principle of equality before the law,” adds Mr. Bachir. For him, Mr. Aoun should have in this case the status of ordinary citizen, rather than enjoying presidential immunity. Especially, he says, that “the code of criminal procedure provides that if the defendants are declared innocent, the civil party against them must pay them damages, if it turns out that she abused her right to resort to justice”.
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Summoned yesterday by the first investigating judge of Mount Lebanon Nicolas Mansour, on the basis of proceedings initiated by the prosecutor at the Court of Appeal of Mount Lebanon, Ghada Aoun, for “defamation” of the President of the Republic, the six activists who had presented a legal request last July to have the mental health of Michel Aoun assessed, did not…
