Lebanon.. Disciplinary Council of Judges dismisses judge investigating corruption cases

Judge Ghada Aoun was summoned to the Palace of Justice where she was informed of the decision to dismiss her. Reuters

The Disciplinary Council of Judges in Lebanon decided yesterday to dismiss a judge who charged the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon and commercial banks.

A judicial source said, "The Disciplinary Council of Judges, headed by Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, took a unanimous decision, which dismissed Ghada Aoun from work, after many complaints against her because of her investigations, a decision that is subject to appeal."

The council's decision was based on a decision issued by the Judicial Inspection Authority, based on "several lawsuits filed against Aoun by those affected by the measures taken in several files, and for violating the decisions issued by the Supreme Judicial Council and the instructions of its superiors," according to the same source.

Aoun was summoned to the Palace of Justice, where she was informed of the decision to dismiss her.

Judge Ghada Aoun, who has investigated corruption involving senior officials and financial sector practices, told Reuters the disciplinary board had accused her of bias.

Aoun told reporters yesterday, after she left a council session, during which he informed her of the decision to dismiss her from service, "They are trying me because I work my job? Everything I did did my job, I didn't do anything wrong. These are malicious prosecutions."

She said the accusations of bias were based on comments she had made about corrupt officials. She stated that she had lodged an objection to the Council's decision and could legally continue to operate until the objection was resolved.

A number of domestic and foreign investigations have been opened against Lebanese financial officials, after decades of extravagance and mismanagement.

Earlier this year, Lebanon's prime minister and interior minister sought to restrict its investigations into commercial banks, saying they had exceeded their powers after they accused two banks of money laundering.

One of the most prominent cases that Aoun has dealt with since the start of the economic collapse in Lebanon in the fall of 2019 is the prosecution of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, his brother and son in October 2019 on charges of "illicit enrichment" by obtaining subsidized housing loans.

In January 2021, it charged Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh and a Central Bank official with "job negligence and dishonesty."

In early 2022, it issued a travel ban against the backdrop of a complaint filed against him by an activist group accusing him of financial mismanagement. On March 17, 2022, his brother Raja Salameh was arrested, against the background of a complaint filed by activists against the two brothers on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering.

Riad Salameh repeatedly refused to appear before Aoun, saying that her prosecution of him comes in the context of a "systematic process to tarnish" his image, stressing that "a judge cannot be an adversary and a referee at the same time."

On the other hand, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, said yesterday that his country has no objection to any presidential candidate who enjoys the confidence of the Lebanese themselves, and welcomes any president elected by the parliament.

After a visit to Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi at the Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerke, northeast of Beirut, Bukhari stressed the need to put an end to the presidential vacuum in Lebanon as soon as possible.