Partisans Drown Depositors' Claims in a Game of Political Blackmail, and the Judiciary Pays the Price. Will the Judicial Inspection Intervene to Put an End to this Farce?

Partisans Drown Depositors' Claims in a Game of Political Blackmail, and the Judiciary Pays the Price. Will the Judicial Inspection Intervene to Put an End to this Farce?

When a lawsuit before Lebanese courts goes down in a never-ending tunnel of obstruction of justice, look always for partisan politics. Such a crippling pathway applies to the present case of banking delinquencies. The famous Mecattaf case contains the file of the Governor of the Lebanese Central Bank, Riad Salameh, the banks with SGBL of the French Societe Generale being on top of, and money exchangers. The indictment decision of this case No. 270/2021 at Mount Lebanon’s investigative judge registry covers recent money laundering activities of billions of dollars by the money transfer taxi company of Michel Mecattaf.

Mount Lebanon’s First Investigative Judge, Nicolas Mansour, had rejected a number of formal defences meant to delay interrogation. Now, more appeals – for callback and transfer of case to another judge – have been submitted in regards to the case from the December 16, 2021 session. These are similar to those filed to defer interrogation and arrest in the case of Beirut’s seaport explosion, in flagrant attempts for a possible trade off between political goals and justice.

Several requests were submitted by Salameh, Miya Dabbagh, the head of the Banking Control Commission, the famous PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Antoun Sehnaoui, the chairman of SBGL, and Michel Mecattaf and his company for money transfers. On December 20, 2021, appeals were submitted against Judge Mansour’s decision before the Appeal Court of Mount Lebanon, followed by others before Criminal Court of Cassation. Some of these even came outside the legal 24-hour deadline for appeal. Mecattaf submitted a request for Judge Mansour to dismiss the file, as well as also requesting to dismiss files regarding the manipulation of commodity support funds and the lira from the (blocked) interrogation session on December 16th, 2021.

The tireless efforts of United for Lebanon Alliance (UFL) and their plaintiffs from the Depositors Outcry Association (DOA) began to yield judicial progress, even if it was the bare minimum. Unfortunately, as soon as results started appearing in the courts, political groups disrupted the judicial process. Some partisans affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement viewed the depositors’ file as a tool of political exploitation, and in turn wrongfully applied pressure to certain judges. The efforts of UFL and DOA include addressing all the context behind any judicial file relevant to politicization and partisan interests. Given that the illegal loopholes and the lack of morality by these partisans has prevented cases of justice to be elevated by the judicial system, UFL and DOA shall not tolerate this sort of partisan behavior.

Alaa Khorchid, the president of the Depositors Outcry Association, has followed up with the lawsuits filed against Mecattaf, Sehnaoui, Dabbagh, and others. His efforts to pursue these cases through UFL’s legal apparatus have exposed several crimes. Some include the striking of the Lebanese National Currency, stealing commodity subsidies, money laundering, and more. Khorchid himself has been subject to vexatious suit in order to slow any sought after progress.

Political pressure has also aimed to mislead the investigations under Judge Mansour to serve partisan interests, and earlier those under Judge Ghada Aoun, the Public Prosecutor of Mount Lebanon. Files and requests in the Registry of Judge Mansour disappear and reappear, and legal documents are lost while decisions are made without regard to an ethical code. There are files manipulated with impossible demands, such as with the case of the pre-trial detention file. Another example of tampering includes the delay of Salameh’s interrogation following the Criminal Court of Cassation’s response to his appeals. The interrogation has been postponed until January 20, 2022, and the hearing by Judge Mansour has been moved to March 22, 2022. Despite the close and direct connection with the current crisis, the courts have delayed a very relevant case that could bring justice to those affected, and those who need to be held accountable.

Are the concerned judges, such as Judge Mansour, aware of what is happening in their district?

Will they fall into the suspicion of politicizing the files, without clear and explicit action to respond to them?

Is the political sphere playing with people’s destinies now going unchecked?

The circle that sensitive financial files move in and that depositors revolve in, is quite small. “The Theft of the Century” is a direct result of the complicit behavior by the judiciary, politicians, and money and media cartels. All of these parties are responsible for eradicating the rights of the depositors’ and the very future of their own children.

At this level of obstruction, extortion, and political exploitation, an emergency intervention of the judicial authorities is necessary. As an institution entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring legal affairs and upholding accountability, the courts are the only place where justice can be served. UFL Lawyers and agents of plaintiffs have filed a complaint today, December 22, 2021 against a number of judges and their aides at the Judicial Inspection Division headed by Judge Burkan Saad. UFL continues to put in these efforts to end the infringement of the rights of plaintiffs and combat the exploitation of the judiciary. Not only its lawyers will file complaints against anyone who is involved in these legal violations and abuses, but they also tend to push further with the implementation of ‘Legitimate Public Self Defense’ according to Article 184 of the Penal Code, taking the law into their own hands.

From a recent sit-in at Mount Lebanon’s Courthouse:

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