Judge Close to Lebanese President 'Rebels' Against General Prosecutor

Judge Ghada Aoun.
Judge Ghada Aoun.
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Judge Close to Lebanese President 'Rebels' Against General Prosecutor

Judge Ghada Aoun.
Judge Ghada Aoun.

Caretaker Lebanese Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm tasked the Judicial Inspection Authority to carry out an assessment of judges in wake of Mount Lebanon state prosecutor Ghada Aoun's rejection of her dismissal by the the discriminatory Public Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat.

Oweidat had dismissed her from investigating alleged financial crimes committed by a money exchange service.

The case has sparked widespread debate, significantly since Aoun is close to President Michel Aoun.

Najm stressed after Saturday's meeting that she would not take a position with or against any political party, saying she was exercising her legal duties.

She remarked that the people believe that the judiciary is divided and affiliated with political powers. This in turn is dividing the people.

She added that she had tasked the Judicial Inspection Authority two weeks ago to carry out an assessment of judges, urging it to go ahead with the case because the situation was no longer tolerable.

Oweidat had on Friday ordered that the money exchange service case be restricted to three general prosecutors. Judge Aoun would consequently be excluded from the case.

She, however, remained defiant. Hours after his order, she personally showed up at the exchange service , along with state security members, to raid the office.

Amid the raid, supporters of President Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement gathered outside the office in a show of support.

The owner of the exchange service called on the army and Internal Security Forces to intervene because "a judge, along with partisan supporters, were vandalizing private property."

Former General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi told Asharq Al-Awsat that he was not opposed to the involvement of the Judicial Inspection Authority, noting however, that it was not part of its jurisdiction to determine whether the general prosecutor was right to dismissing a state prosecutor from a case.

The entire affair has sparked heated debate in the country.

FPM lawyers condemned the affair as an attempt to tarnish Judge Aoun's image, saying the entire issue was politically motivated.

They defended the judge for "daring to tackle corruption cases and cracking down on corrupt figures."

The Mustaqbal Movement said the affair was "very dangerous and marked a precedent not witnessed during the civil war or even during Syria's hegemony over Lebanon."

It accused Judge Aoun of being selective in opening corruption cases, saying she chooses to prosecute opponents while turning a blind eye to other violations.



Biden Calls for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire in Call with Netanyahu

FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
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Biden Calls for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire in Call with Netanyahu

FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Biden "stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," Reuters quoted it as saying.
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
The two leaders also discussed "the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region," the White House said.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" program earlier on Sunday that the parties were "very, very close" to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.
He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.
"We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done," Sullivan said, "and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside."
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible "Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent."
During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and "the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense," the White House said.