Lebanon Turns into Haven for Lebanese Fugitives Wanted Abroadhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/4502486-lebanon-turns-haven-lebanese-fugitives-wanted-abroad
Lebanon Turns into Haven for Lebanese Fugitives Wanted Abroad
Lebanon's Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh (C), greets employees on his last working day as the head of the Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon, 31 July 2023. (EPA)
Lebanon Turns into Haven for Lebanese Fugitives Wanted Abroad
Lebanon's Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh (C), greets employees on his last working day as the head of the Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon, 31 July 2023. (EPA)
Lebanon has become a haven for Lebanese fugitives wanted by international law. These fugitives are often dual nationals and take advantage of a Lebanese law that bars their extradition to the countries where they are wanted.
Among the most prominent fugitives are former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, who is wanted in Europe, and former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, who is wanted in Japan.
They also include Hezbollah members wanted by the United States and who have been sanctioned by Washington, as well as party members wanted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that was looking into the 2005 assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The STL used to send monthly requests to Lebanon demanding the arrest of the fugitives while authorities have constantly replied that they could not find them.
As for Salameh and Ghosn, judicial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon refuses to turn them over because they have the Lebanese nationality.
In such cases, when proven that the crimes they are wanted for are “serious”, then they would be put on trial in Lebanon because the local judiciary alone has the jurisdiction to try any citizen, even if they have committed a crime abroad, explained the source.
According to Lebanese law, a Lebanese dual national cannot be extradited even if they are wanted by the country of their second nationality, it added.
The law has been criticized, with claims that it actually protects fugitives from international prosecution.
Former general prosecutor Hatem Madi refused to describe Lebanon as a haven for international fugitives.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Lebanon is a member of Interpol, and it is obligated to turn over wanted foreign suspects when it receives a notice.”
Only Lebanese nationals and dual nationals are exempt from the Interpol law, he went on to say.
The state doesn’t turn over its citizens, but it puts them on trial before Lebanese courts, Madi said.
Furthermore, he explained that Lebanese law bars international fugitives from entering Lebanon, but some have ended up secretly entering the country. In such cases, the security agencies would be tasked with finding and arresting them.
The majority of international fugitives have been deported to the countries where they are wanted. Cases are weighed by the government, which has the authority to demand that the fugitives be arrested. The request is then referred to the judiciary for review before being passed on again to the government, which weighs the “political and sovereign” implications of the arrest.
Only then will it decide whether to go ahead with an arrest or not.
Contrary to Lebanese nationals, Lebanon has never wavered in turning over foreign fugitives.
The latest such case was the deportation of an Italian, who was wanted by Interpol for his involvement in drug smuggling between Europe and Africa.
At the time, public prosecutor Ghassan Ouweidat had issued a warrant for his arrest, which was approved by caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury.
Another case dates back two decades when Germany requested the arrest of Palestinians in Lebanon who were wanted for a café bombing in Germany that left five people dead.
Initially, Lebanon had refused to deport them because they did not hold the nationality of any country, recalled Madi.
They were tried and acquitted by a Lebanese court, but it was revealed that the government later ended up deporting them to Germany, he added.
France Is Facing an Election like No Other. Here’s How It Works and What Comes Nexthttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5035541-france-facing-election-no-other-here%E2%80%99s-how-it-works-and-what-comes-next
Ballots are seen at a polling station inside the Petit Poucet school during France's crunch legislative elections at the Vallee du Tir district in Noumea, in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
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France Is Facing an Election like No Other. Here’s How It Works and What Comes Next
Ballots are seen at a polling station inside the Petit Poucet school during France's crunch legislative elections at the Vallee du Tir district in Noumea, in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
French voters are being called to the polls on Sunday for an exceptional moment in their political history: the first round of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all.
The outcome of the vote, following the second round on July 7 and a hasty campaign, remains highly uncertain as three major political blocs are competing: the far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, and the New Popular Front coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces.
Here’s a closer look:
How does it work? The French system is complex and not proportionate to nationwide support for a party. Legislators are elected by district. A parliamentary candidate requires over 50% of the day’s vote to be elected outright Sunday.
Failing that, the top two contenders, alongside anyone else who won support from more than 12.5% of registered voters, go forward to a second round.
In some cases, three or four people make it to the second round, though some may step aside to improve the chances of another contender — a tactic often used in the past to block far-right candidates.
Key party leaders are expected to unveil their strategy in between the two rounds. This makes the result of the second round highly uncertain, and dependent on political maneuvering and how voters react.
The far-right National Rally, ahead in all preelection opinion polls, hopes to win an absolute majority, or at least 289 out of the 577 seats.
The National Assembly, the lower house, is the more powerful of France’s two houses of parliament. It has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, dominated by conservatives.
Macron has a presidential mandate until 2027, and said he would not step down before the end of his term.
A person casts their vote at a polling station in the Magenta district during the first round of France's crunch legislative elections in Noumea in the first constituency of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
What's cohabitation? If another political force than his centrist alliance gets a majority, Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority.
In such a situation — called "cohabitation" in France — the government would implement policies that diverge from the president’s plan.
France’s modern Republic has experienced three cohabitations, the last one under conservative President Jacques Chirac, with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, from 1997 to 2002.
The prime minister is accountable to the parliament, leads the government and introduces bills.
"In case of cohabitation, policies implemented are essentially those of the prime minister," political historian Jean Garrigues said.
The president is weakened at home during cohabitation, but still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense because he is in charge of negotiating and ratifying international treaties. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, and is the one holding the nuclear codes.
"It’s possible for the president to prevent or temporarily suspend the implementation of a certain number of the prime minister’s projects, since he has the power to sign or not sign the government’s ordinances or decrees," Garrigues added.
"Yet the prime minister has the power to submit these ordinances and decrees to a vote of the National Assembly, thus overriding the president’s reluctance," he noted.
A car drives past electoral posters, Thursday, June 27, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP)
Who leads defense and foreign policies? During previous cohabitations, defense and foreign policies were considered the informal "reserved field" of the president, who was usually able to find compromises with the prime minister to allow France to speak with one voice abroad.
Yet today, both the far-right and the leftist coalition's views in these areas differ radically from Macron’s approach and would likely be a subject of tension during a potential cohabitation.
According to the Constitution, while "the president is the head of the military, it's the prime minister who has the armed forces at his disposal," Garrigues said.
"In the diplomatic field also, the president’s perimeter is considerably restricted," Garrigues added.
The National Rally’s president, Jordan Bardella, said that if he were to become prime minister, he would oppose sending French troops to Ukraine — a possibility Macron has not ruled out. Bardella also said he would refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of striking targets within Russia itself.
If the leftist coalition was to win the elections, it could disrupt France's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
The New Popular Front's platform plans to "immediately recognize the Palestinian state" and "break with the French government’s guilty support" for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Macron previously argued the recognition of the Palestinian state should take place at a "useful moment," suggesting the Israel-Hamas war doesn't not allow such a move at the moment.
French member of parliament and previous candidate for French presidential election Marine Le Pen (R) attends French extreme right party Rassemblement National (RN, National Front) press conference ahead of legislative elections, Paris, France, 24 June 2024. (EPA)
What happens if there's no majority? The president can name a prime minister from the parliamentary group with the most seats at the National Assembly — this was the case of Macron’s own centrist alliance since 2022.
Yet the National Rally already said it would reject such an option, because it would mean a far-right government could soon be overthrown through a no-confidence vote if other political parties join together.
The president could try to build a broad coalition from the left to the right, an option that sounds unlikely, given the political divergences.
Experts say another complex option would be to appoint "a government of experts" unaffiliated with political parties but which would still need to be accepted by a majority at the National Assembly. Such a government would likely deal mostly with day-to-day affairs rather than implementing major reforms.
If political talks take too long amid summer holidays and the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in Paris, Garrigues said a "transition period" is not ruled out, during which Macron's centrist government would "still be in charge of current affairs," pending further decisions.
"Whatever the National Assembly looks like, it seems that the Constitution of the 5th Republic is flexible enough to survive these complex circumstances," Melody Mock-Gruet, a public law expert teaching at Sciences Po Paris, said in a written note. "Institutions are more solid than they appear, even when faced with this experimental exercise."
"Yet there remains another unknown in the equation: the population’s ability to accept the situation," Mock-Gruet wrote.
