Lawyer Mark Habka will take legal action against Judge Ghada Aoun

BEIRUT — Lawyer Mark Habka, who is targeted by a complaint filed by Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun, said on Thursday that he will present two civil and penal actions imminently against Judge Aoun.

Here’s what we know:

    • On Friday, Judge Aoun indicated in a statement that she would initiate proceedings before the General Prosecutor's Office of Mount Lebanon against Habka after he appeared as a guest on MTV’s Sar el Wa2et program, where he criticized the judge. Immediately after being presented to State Security, the complaint was forwarded to Advocate General at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal Raed Abou Chakra.

    • Judge Aoun had also initiated proceedings before the Mount Lebanon prosecutor's office against the host of Sarel Wa2et Marcel Ghanem and his brother George Ghanem who’s always a guest of the program. During his television program, Marcel Ghanem Thursday fiercely attacked Judge Aoun in his intro.

    • On Thursday morning, Habka appeared in court in person and as an attorney for Ghanem. “Making a complaint against a lawyer is a new case,” Habka said before his hearing. He also said that he “will not insist on his immunity as long as the law is on his side.” Habka added that he will present all the necessary documents on Tuesday during a second hearing before Judge Abou Chacra. A source told L'Orient-Le Jour that the documents that will be presented are related to the case of fund transfer company Mecattaf, which is also the target of legal proceedings by Judge Aoun, or even on a violation of BDL’s obligatory currency reserves, which Judge Aoun spoke of on Twitter.

    • At the end of his interrogation Habka said that he will present two civil and penal actions against Judge Aoun. "For me, slander is forbidden,” he said. “I will prove to the judiciary that everything I have spoken about is true,” he added.