After the arrival of the red notice from the International Interpol to the competent Lebanese authorities related to the arrest of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, it became clear that Lebanon is facing difficult choices, especially since the Lebanese judiciary had previously evaded notifying him, which prompted the French judge to issue an arrest warrant against him. Elimination and saves face? And how?
Follow-up sources stop at the inability of the Lebanese judiciary today, specifically the first investigating judge in Beirut, Charbel Abu Samra, when Salama was informed of his French interrogation session, while an Arab judicial station was able to reach him and interview him? This matter is placed by sources following the file as an insult to the Lebanese judiciary, because Judge Abu Samra announced his inability to notify the governor of the bank because he does not know his whereabouts, and by this behavior he obliged the Lebanese judiciary, because the memorandum was issued after Abu Samra failed to inform Salama in Lebanon, because the matters are linked to each other. If he had been able to inform him, the memorandum would not have been issued, and the Lebanese judiciary would have appeared as a judiciary worthy of handling the file.
She clarifies that if the Lebanese judiciary argues that he is not extradited to the French authorities, he must try him in Lebanon as a Lebanese citizen, and compares Salameh and Carlos Ghosn, as the latter is from the private sector and will not affect anything in Lebanon, neither the economy nor money, while Salameh is the governor of the central bank and the investigation committee. The special authority that is today communicating with a hundred bodies in the world at the level of countries in combating money laundering, and Lebanon is subject to severe penalties if this man continues in this position.
And she warns that if he continues in this position, Lebanon will be on the blacklist in the matter of money laundering. “GAFI FATF” is linked to the Special Investigation Commission in Lebanon, which can turn us into a money laundering country within 24 hours, which is accurate.
--He expected Judge Oweidat to cooperate in this case and prepare a logical response because he knows the importance of the file, and he knows that the first reaction will be to be tried in Lebanon.
If Riad Salameh was summoned to his office on the subject of the memorandum and as a matter of goodwill to the Lebanese judiciary, Riad Salameh must be arrested by Oweidat, as he is the one who had previously requested the prosecution against him, so today it is necessary to arrest him even if he wants to try him in Lebanon, and the French judges can come to Lebanon and conduct the investigation. with him.
As for the technical aspect, legal sources clarify that if they want to implement the Interpol memorandum, the second possibility is that there are 3 possibilities, either it is implemented by the Lebanese judiciary and it is handed over to the French authorities after reviewing the file, or the file is studied and preserved for the absence of any crime or the lack of seriousness of the case, and the third possibility is that He studies the file and transfers it to the competent judicial reference to take the necessary action and prosecute duly, that is, to the Appeal Public Prosecutor in Beirut where the Bank of Lebanon is located, or to the Appeal Public Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon where Riad Salameh resides. “The third possibility is the one that will prevail, according to the sources’ opinion.
