While the Lebanese judiciary is mired in its crises, in the first half of the new year 2023, it will have to face a new crisis which this time overcomes its internal crises, and opens the door to an “international problem” with the European judicial authorities, which is entered, forcefully, on the edge of the investigation in the file of the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, to confiscate. This is the power of the Lebanese judiciary, which is in control.
Senior judicial sources revealed to Janoubia that “the judicial authorities in Luxembourg, France and Germany informed the Lebanese judiciary of their intention to come to Lebanon through delegations composed of investigating judges, prosecutors and courts, between the twenty-ninth of next January. “
The sources clarified that these delegations “did not request any legal assistance as the law assumes, and that what the Lebanese judiciary received from them was only a letter informing it of their coming to Lebanon on the aforementioned date to investigate the dossier of the sovereign”.
This unprecedented step by the European judiciary was taken by surprise by judicial sources, as “it constitutes an invasion of the powers of the Lebanese judiciary, of its sovereignty and a confiscation of its role, not only in the ruler’s dossier, but in all dossier”, describing this step as “dangerous” due to the flagrant violation of Lebanese law”.
The judicial authorities of Luxembourg, France and Germany have informed the Lebanese judiciary of their intention to come to Lebanon through delegations composed of investigating judges, prosecutors and courts, between the twenty-ninth of next January.
He stressed that “the danger in this lies in investigating other files, such as the file port and the Al-Aqabiya incident.” investigate any file, outside the framework of international judicial cooperation, as jurisdiction is part of sovereignty. The state”.
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The sources highlighted that “the United Nations Convention, which the Lebanese judiciary has signed on the fight against corruption, indicates in one of its clauses that foreign law applies if compatible with Lebanese law, which is not commensurate with the request of the European judiciary in investigation into the housekeeper’s file”, underlining that “The problem is not in the investigation into the housekeeper’s file, but rather in conducting a European investigation in a manner contrary to the principles that promote cooperation between the Lebanese judiciary and the foreign judiciary. “
The judicial source provided an example of this collaboration, already achieved in the Carlos Ghosn dossier, in which the French delegations participated, in stages and over many days, who conducted an investigation with him after submitting a request for judicial assistance to the Lebanese judiciary in this regard, having been investigated by the discriminatory public prosecutor’s office, before the judicial authority intervened, the French subsequently issued a lawsuit decision against Ghosn at the time.
The European investigation will not be limited to Salameh, according to sources, but will also concern “everyone”, according to sources who revealed that the European judicial delegation will also investigate the heads of Lebanese banks and Raja Salameh, brother of the sovereign, and all regarding the dossier, and all this bypassing the Lebanese judiciary which previously informed the delegation that there is a dossier against Riad Salameh in the Appeals Office of the Beirut Prosecutor’s Office. The Public Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, had deferred months However, Salameh filed a request to dismiss Judge Ziyad Abu Haidar to stop the investigation.
The European judicial delegation will also investigate the heads of Lebanese banks and Raja Salameh, brother of the sovereign, and everything related to the file
Many pressures are exposed to the Lebanese judiciary, by the European judiciary regarding the Riad Salameh dossier, noting that the Lebanese and European investigations in this dossier are linked to each other, according to sources who have recognized the need to set up an international investigative commission, so that a joint investigation between Lebanon and European countries takes place in order to preserve state sovereignty and the rest of the judiciary.
