Bad times for Lebanese judges. After the investigation, led by Tarek Bitar, into the double explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020 was de facto frozen, due to the obstruction of the local political class, the work of another magistrate is about to be neutralized: Ghada Aoun, attorney general at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, famous for daring to attack the powerful, from Riad Salamé, governor of the central bank, to Najib Mikati, the current prime acting minister. The judge was removed from her post at the beginning of May by a disciplinary measure against which she appealed.
Activists for the independence of the judiciary – a sector plagued by interference – consider this dismissal as an extremely severe sanction. A statement signed by several reform organizations denounces a message of intimidation addressed to judges “at a time when the political authority is intensifying its attacks against the entire judicial sphere”.
The reasons for Ghada Aoun’s dismissal have not been made public. According to a judicial source, “the violation of the duty of reserve and of the pressures [de la juge] on magistrates responsible for studying requests for recusal concerning her “ are mentioned in the revocation order. His sometimes inopportune comments on social networks, his impulsiveness and his spectacular descents have often created controversy.
Her detractors accuse her of having served the political interests of former President Michel Aoun (to whom she is not related) – who left in October and whose successor has still not been named – and of not having placed in his sights than the adversaries of his camp. The person concerned has always defended herself, without hiding her affinities with the former head of state. “Her opinions did not prevent the magistrate from carrying out honest work on her cases. She wants to fight corruption. She is in a key position, where she has the authority to enforce the lifting of banking secrecy.underlines the lawyer Karim Daher.
A “disproportionate” sanction
“Ghada Aoun has made mistakes, but she is brave, said a judge on condition of anonymity. The penalty she receives is disproportionate. The politico-financial establishment took advantage of his missteps to oust him. » The current paralysis of the institutions, in the absence of a full-fledged government and with a vacant post of president, offers this elite the opportunity to “put aside people considered to be embarrassing”, adds this same magistrate.
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