A few hours earlier, Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salame, appeared today before the Cassation Prosecutor’s Office and questioned him about the contents of the “red notice” issued by the international “Interpol” pursuant to the French arrest warrant, the German Court issued a second warrant for his arrest for crimes related to “corruption, forgery, embezzlement and money laundering” to widen the scope of prosecutions and test the Lebanese judiciary’s ability to deal with these fast-paced events.
So far, Lebanon has not officially received the German note, but a court certificate confirmed to Ashark al-Awsat yesterday, Tuesday, that “The Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Cassation was verbally informed by a prosecutor in Munich who participated in the Beirut investigations that Salameh had been extradited the arrest warrant”.
Second German note against him
He said: “The memorandum has been published in local form in Germany and will be circulated through the international Interpol in the coming hours to begin implementation.”
The Public Prosecutor for Discrimination, Judge Ghassan Oveidat, instructed Judge Imad Kablan to hear Salama at today’s hearing on Wednesday.
During this meeting, the Lebanese media report that Judge Cabalan informs Salamah about the Interpol warrant and seizes his passports and decides to either leave him under investigation or with a residence document, and then requests the extradition of the file from France. , stressing that the recovery case should include a request for his extradition with the facts and evidence against him.
Sources indicate that with the receipt of the “French file”, the request is being examined to determine if conditions exist for Salama to be charged by the French judiciary, provided that the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation will then show the review submitted by him. the Minister of Justice, who in turn forwards the request for extradition to the Council of Ministers for a decision.
The sources confirm that Lebanon does not extradite its citizens except under special conditions under Article 30 of the Penal Code and following, or on the basis of an international agreement between the two countries, noting that there is no judicial agreement between Lebanon and France on the exchange of wanted persons, and this previously discussed, but Lebanon did not sign it.
Lebanon will not extradite Salameh
And the sources believed that “the French case and the Lebanese case are linked, since the latter relied on the Swiss mission in its preliminary investigations, since it opened the investigation, in the light of which it was undertaken by Judge Jean Tannou, noting that if the conditions for Salama to be charged in France are complied with, the case is transferred to the appropriate judicial authority for prosecution. He and his court are for that matter on Lebanese soil, and thus Salameh becomes a suspect in two cases before the Lebanese judiciary.
On the other hand, the first investigating judge in Beirut, Charbel Bou Samra, informed Raja Salameh and Marianne Al-Hawik of the date of two investigative sessions with them before the French judiciary, the first for Salameh on 31 May and the second for Al-Hawik on 13 June, noting, that Bou Samra scheduled the interrogation of Raj Salameh in the Lebanese File of 15 June.
An informed source in the judiciary told Asharq Al-Awsat that the head of the Lebanese Central Directorate of Criminal Investigation; Colonel Nicolas Saad “arrived at the head of the security forces at the Bank of Lebanon on Monday morning and personally informed Salamah of the decision to summon him, and the latter promised to appear before the Court of Cassation of the Prosecutor’s Office and give his evidence.” emphasizing that the Lebanese judiciary is “obligated to comply with the red notice and that after hearing from the central governor, the plaintiff will decide. The Court of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oveidat, has ruled accordingly, and it is likely that he will be kept under investigation, he was forbidden to leave, and his passports were confiscated.” that is, the court case in which Salame is tried in France. , which must decide whether to accept or reject the extradition request.
On July 4, the Court of Appeal in Paris will rule on the legality of the seizure of real estate and funds of Bank of Lebanon Governor Riad Salameh in Europe, according to people familiar with the case. French Press Agency.
Salama, 72, is suspected to have obtained the property and assets by embezzling public funds in Lebanon, where he headed the central bank for three decades and has close ties to the political class.
The Investigatory Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal is considering annulment petitions filed by the Salameh defense in relation to more than ten confiscations carried out by France on assets and property worth tens of millions of euros, including apartments in prestigious areas of the capital, such as the 16th arrondissement, the Champs Elysées, etc. in the UK, Belgium, bank accounts.
According to sources familiar with the case, prosecutors requested confirmation of the seizures on Tuesday. According to the French Press, prosecutors fear that France will be deprived of “every room for confiscation” if the judiciary one day convicts Salameh.
On May 16, a French judge in charge of investigating Salameh’s money and property in Europe issued an international arrest warrant against him after he was absent from an interrogation she summoned him to in Paris.
At the time, a Lebanese judicial source said authorities failed to notify Salamah of the subpoena, despite security forces attempting to serve him four times at the bank’s headquarters.
Last week, Salama denied the accusations, stressing: “My conscience is clear… If a sentence is passed against me that proves that I am a criminal, I will resign from the bank’s management,” in an interview with Al-Hadas TV channel. .
France, Germany and Luxembourg announced at the end of March 2022 a freeze on Lebanese assets worth 120 million euros following an investigation directed against Salameh and four of his close associates, including his brother Raju Salameh.
The investigation concerns cases of money laundering and “the embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon amounting to over $330 million and €5 million, respectively, between 2002 and 2021.”
Salame’s lawyers are demanding the return of assets worth tens of millions of euros belonging to their client and arrested in France.
A French judicial investigation has been ongoing since July 2021, in parallel with other European and Lebanese investigations against Salameh.
