Hands of the prisoner in jail
A few days ago, the Appeal Public Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, claimed that economist Hassan Mukalled and media worker Josephine Dib were guilty of defamation and defamation and referred the file to the Publications Court. The story started after talk of a political leader and a former minister transferring millions of dollars outside Lebanon to leak the names of Walid Jumblatt and Wael Bou Faour at the time. Where did the investigations in this file become? Is Aoun’s claim of innocence to Jumblatt and Bou Faour?
Media and social media buzzed with news that a political leader was involved in transferring $ 300 million to Switzerland months ago. It was soon that the name came out into the open: Walid Jumblatt. The former Minister, Wael Bou Faour, was attached to the leader. The news was not unusual, especially since the “alleged” transfer took place in light of the bank closings after the October 17 uprising.
There was no official source confirming the news that filled social media, before the matter turned into a media ram between the Socialist Party and fellow economist Hassan Mukallad, who revealed the news without mentioning the names, while the journalist Josephine Dib published on her account on Twitter information that the intended leader Walid Jumblatt. The cramping developed into imitated table threats, coinciding with the resort of Jumblatt and Bou Faour to the judiciary to claim the imitator and Deeb.
Judge Aoun pleaded against Muqalled and Deeb to the crime of defamation and defamation and referred the file to the Publications Court. Al-Akhbar learned that Judge Aoun granted Muqadad two weeks to provide her with documents to prove his allegations, but he did not, and she claimed it. Judicial sources revealed that Aoun is obligated to prosecute in order to move the public case as an administrative procedure, but that does not mean that anyone is convicted or acquitted. While colleague Deeb considered that referring the file to publications is the natural path for any lawsuit against a journalist, the Socialist Party considered that the mere prosecution was a victory for him, given that Muqalled did not produce any document confirming his allegations.
In contact with former Minister Bou Faour, he told Al-Akhbar: “Our goal is not retribution. Our goal is to show the truth and Judge Aoun’s claim has shown to public opinion that the allegations have been denied. He added, “Hassan Mokled was given many opportunities to prove his allegations. He also traveled to Switzerland, but did not submit a single document proving his words. And I still keep my promise. I will resign and retire from politics if what Mqalled says is true. And if not, he should apologize to the Lebanese, not from me, because the truth has emerged. ”
An imitator asks Aoun to ask the Special Investigation Authority about the transfers
But Imitators have another opinion. He considered that the battle he waged was to refer the case to the Publications Court. Aoun’s claim and the referral of the file to publications are nothing but a victory for him. As for the accusation of Bo Faour, he was unable to show any document confirming his allegations. Mukallad said: “I did not name Walid Jumblatt and Wael Bou Faour in the accusation. Not on TV or on Twitter. So there is no basis for defamation. I am not obligated to show anything about names, but he pointed out that “the Lebanese judiciary and the Lebanese state have made clear our allegations regarding the transfer of 4 billion dollars in the days of the official closure.
Remittances were also found outside Lebanon. This is proven by the Special Investigation Commission. ” Imitator restored the words of President Nabih Berri regarding the transfer of huge amounts of money from five banks outside Lebanon, asking: “The judiciary must tell us whether among these politicians their money was transferred with the owners of the banks.”
Mukallad revealed that he told Judge Aoun that he could not disclose his sources out of concern for their safety and not be expelled outside the banking sector, saying that he was ready to provide them with the days and dates in which the transfers and their value occurred and from any bank to any bank and in the interest of whom, asking them to ask the Special Investigation Commission or the Oversight Committee Banks have to verify their occurrence. However, Judge Aoun informed him that the discriminatory Prosecutor General, Ghassan Awaidat, would not allow her to do so.
