Lebanese Judge Ghada Aoun Summoned for Questioning

Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo
Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo
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Lebanese Judge Ghada Aoun Summoned for Questioning

Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo
Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo

Public Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oweidat set next Monday a date to question Judge Ghada Aoun for insulting the Supreme Judicial Council, in addition to other cases, a judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Her summoning by Owaidat shocked the judiciary because the judge is backed by President Michel Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement that is led by the president’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil.

Judge Aoun will also be questioned on the cases filed by deputy Hadi Hobeich against her for defamation.

Oweidat has commissioned Judge Ghassan al-Khoury to interrogate her and to inform him of the results in order to take the appropriate legal action.

Judge Aoun has posted on her WhatsApp harsh remarks on the Supreme Judicial Council, accusing it of trying to keep mouths shut after she gave her opinion about appointments in the judiciary.

The source said Judge Aoun “was called in for investigation before President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Imad Kabalan, last Thursday, but she rejected.”

He said that Khoury then contacted Judge Aoun, and informed her that it is necessary that she heads to his office at the Justice Palace in Beirut before noon next Monday.

Sources close to Aoun considered her summoning a political campaign against her.

Hobeich welcomed Friday the summoning of the judge.

“I have never threatened Judge Aoun, but only raised my voice against the violations she committed against me and many other lawyers,” Hobeich told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Syrian Security Forces Detain Cousin of Toppled Leader Assad

A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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Syrian Security Forces Detain Cousin of Toppled Leader Assad

A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syria's security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA said on Saturday.

Wassim al-Assad was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for leading a paramilitary force backing Assad's army and for trafficking drugs including the amphetamine-like drug captagon, Reuters said.

Bashar al-Assad was toppled by the opposition factions in December and fled to Moscow. Most of his family members and inner circle either fled Syria or went underground.

Syria’s new security forces have been pursuing members of the former administration - mainly those involved in the feared security branches accused of rights abuses.

Rights groups have called for a fully-fledged transitional justice process to hold them to account.