President Michel Aoun called on the judiciary on Tuesday to confront “anyone restraining its justice, at the central bank and the Beirut port explosion .”
Aoun issued a statement addressed to the judicial authority, in which reminded them that on June 9, the relevant judicial authorities “charged Central Bank Governor Riad Toufic Salameh and his partners with dangerous financial crimes, specifically the crimes of embezzlement, falsification, the use of forged documents, money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion.”
“Ever since, the concerned judges have shared responsibility evasion without filing a lawsuit according to legal norms, which pushes me, from my position and role as the head of the state and under my constitutional oath, to call on the judiciary to fully liberate itself from any inducement or intimidation,” Aoun added.
“I call on the judiciary to confront anyone restraining its justice at the central bank as well as in the Beirut port blast case,” he said and added: “Rise up for your dignity and authority and do not fear those who have influence.”
Can Salameh be dismissed
According to Article 19 of the Code of Money and Credit, the Governor of Lebanon’s Central bank can only be dismissed from his job for one or more of the following reasons:
- Breaching the duties of his job. This can be decided in reference to the First Chapter of the Third Section of the Penal Code.
- Violating the provisions of Section 20. (The governor must not be involved in any business other than his occupation at the Central Bank).
- A serious error in the conduct of business.
- Based on all the above , Salameh should have been dismissed from his position as Central Bank Governor long time ago . According to financial analysts Salameh’s Ponzi type scheme got Lebanon where it is today and his personal business is a gross violation of the all the above laws governing Central bank governors
The only way to dismiss Salameh is by a Council of ministers decree which should also be signed by the president .
Since President Aoun and his allies have been running the government for over a decade they could have fired him long time ago according to financial analysts .
But neither Aoun nor the prime minister nor any of the ruling political elite are serious about getting him fired since they all benefited one way or the other from him being there while they all managed to transfer their wealth overseas.
When asked about dismissing Salameh , PM Najib Mikati responded by saying “ you don’t change officers in the midst of a battle “
The Lebanese courts have been trying to get Salameh to testify , they raided his office and his home but have not been able to get him to court . The army or the internal security forces can get Salameh arrested and brought to court anytime but none did anything not because they can’t , it is all because all the politicians benefit from him being there and don’t want to upset the apple cart , according to analysts.
Similarly in the case of the devastating port explosion of Aug 4, 2020 , President Aoun knows very well who is obstructing justice , but since it is his ally , he only talks about this and does absolutely nothing according to observers
The August 4, 2020 explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut killed at least 220 , Injured at least 7000 after several hundred tons of ammonium nitrate exploded .
2750 tons were stored there illegally for nearly 7 years, reportedly for use by the Syrian regime in its barrel bombs.
The shipment was reportedly confiscated by Badri Daher a close associate of President Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil , both are allied with the Syrian regime and Hezbollah .
The shipment arrived at a time when Syria was surrendering its chemical weapons to a UN backed organization for destruction . Aoun officially knew about the Ammonium Nitrate 2 weeks before the explosion but did nothing about it . He , along with his Hezbollah allies refused calls for an international investigation but promised a local investigation that will bring the culprits to justice in less than a week but over 2 years later not one politician has been charged.
Judge Fadi Sawan who was initially in charge of the investigation was fired for charging Hezbollah backed Lebanese government officials with negligence over the explosion . Judge Tarek Bitar replaced Judge Sawan and Hezbollah has been for months trying to get him fired too , reportedly because it is concerned about exposing its role in supplying the Syrian government with the explosive chemical for use in its barrel bombs against civilians.
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