Lebanon Legal Council Dismisses Judge Ghada Aoun

Judge Ghada Aoun. Reuters
Judge Ghada Aoun. Reuters
TT

Lebanon Legal Council Dismisses Judge Ghada Aoun

Judge Ghada Aoun. Reuters
Judge Ghada Aoun. Reuters

The Lebanese judiciary's disciplinary council on Thursday decided to remove from office one of the judges who has brought charges against the country's central bank governor and commercial banks.

A number of domestic and foreign probes have been launched against Lebanon's financial officials following decades of profligate spending and mismanagement.

Judge Ghada Aoun, who has investigated corruption by top Lebanese officials and the practices of the financial sector, told Reuters the disciplinary council accused her of bias.

"They are punishing me for doing my job," Aoun told reporters on Thursday after she left a hearing of the council, during which she was informed of its decision to dismiss her.

Aoun said the bias accusations were based on comments she had made about corrupt officials.

She said she had appealed the decision and could legally keep practicing until the appeal was decided.

A senior judicial source told Reuters that the council had voted unanimously to dismiss her after numerous complaints were filed against her over her investigations.

Earlier this year, Lebanon's prime minister and interior minister moved to restrict her probe into commercial banks, saying she was "overstepping authority" after she charged two banks with money laundering.

Aoun also charged central bank governor Riad Salameh last year with illicit enrichment, in a case related to wider corruption investigations in Lebanon and at least five European countries.

Salameh, who denies the accusations, was later charged by another Lebanese judge with illicit enrichment.



Palestinians Must Not Be Expelled from Gaza, Berlin Says After Trump Comments 

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
TT

Palestinians Must Not Be Expelled from Gaza, Berlin Says After Trump Comments 

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)

The Palestinian population must not be expelled from Gaza, the German foreign ministry said on Monday after US President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians.

Asked for a reaction to Trump's comments, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Berlin shared the view of "the European Union, our Arab partners, the United Nations ... that the Palestinian population must not be expelled from Gaza and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or recolonized by Israel."

Jordan is already home to several million Palestinians, while tens of thousands live in Egypt. Both countries and other Arab nations reject the idea of Palestinians in Gaza being moved to their countries. Gaza is land that Palestinians would want as part of a future Palestinian state.