Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun during a search of the Mecattaf company. (Photo credit: Marc Fayad)
BEIRUT – Head of the Judicial Inspection Commission, Bourkan Saad, has referred Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun to the Disciplinary Council for traveling to France without taking official permission from Justice Minister Henry Khoury and for making offensive remarks about Lebanese judges, a judicial source confirmed to L’Orient Today.
Here’s what we know:
• In an interview on French television, Judge Aoun accused some of her Lebanese colleagues of corruption, stating: “We discovered several corrupt judges receiving bribes … We are facing a big lobby made up of financial groups, the governor of the Central Bank, supported by members of the political class and certain judges.”
• The public prosecutor expressed surprise at Saad's decision against her, telling a Lebanon’s OTV, which is affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement, “I had requested travel authorization from the Justice Minister … I will wait to see how things will progress on this measure, but I will continue to work on the files on which I am following up.” Judge Aoun did not comment on Judge Saad's accusation that she had made critical comments about her colleagues.
• In April 2021, Judge Aoun was also called to appear before the Judicial Inspection Authority, at the request of the Supreme Judicial Council, after raiding Mecattaf Holding Group’s offices in Awkar. On March 18, Michel Mecattaf, CEO of this company, died of a heart attack, while the case is still ongoing.