Investigations into Rifaat al-Assad's granddaughter and mother continued in Lebanon after they were detained for attempting to travel using a forged passport.
Shams Duraid Rifaat al-Assad and her mother Rasha Khazem were arrested at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport last week.
The new Syrian authorities in Damascus suspended consular services at the Syrian embassy in Beirut after on supsicion that the forgery took place there. They have since opened an investigation to find out who was behind the forgery.
A judicial source at Lebanon’s General Security said preliminary investigations, overseen by Public Prosecutor Judge Jamal Hajjar, have been completed with Shams and Khazem.
The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hajjar ordered that the investigations be referred to the general prosecution in Mount Lebanon so that they can be charged for the possession of forged passports in Lebanon and using them to travel to Cairo.
They will be put on trial for carrying and using a forged official document, which carries a sentence of two months to three years in jail, added the source.
The presiding judge will determine how long they will be held in detention.
Should the investigation reveal that the forgery took place at the Syrian embassy in Lebanon, then the case will be referred to the Syrian authorities, explained the source.
Shams and Khazem confessed to entering Lebanon through an illegal border crossing hours after Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed on December 8.
They said that they were unable to renew their expired passports.
Duraid al-Assad had reportedly traveled to Cairo hours before they were detained. His father Rifaat had traveled from Beirut to the United Arab Emirates through Beirut’s international airport using a valid passport.
The judicial source stressed that Rifaat and Duraid are not wanted by Lebanese authorities and there are no international warrants for their arrest, so they were able to travel without incident.
A source monitoring the development said the employees at the consular section are being thoroughly investigated by the new Syrian authorities. The authorities may ask for assistance from Lebanon in their probe.
It told Asharq Al-Awsat that the incident demonstrates that some embassy staff are sympathetic with the Assad regime, which stands in stark contrast to an embassy statement, issued hours after the regime collapse, that expressed relief at its ouster and the end of half a century of brutal Assad rule.
