President Michel Aoun delivers a speech on Sunday before leaving Baabda palace on the eve of the end of his term. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
President Michel Aoun focused a large part of his speech on Sunday on the head of the Higher Judicial Council Souheil Abboud, on whom he unleashed a direct attack.“Our innocent people are imprisoned because the HJC head does not want to appoint a judge who would look into their case,” the president said, in reference to the detention of Badri Daher in the aftermath of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion. Daher is close to Aoun and was serving as customs director at the port at the time of the blast.Aoun also said that during the session scheduled to appoint an alternate judge for Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigation into the 2020 port explosion, Abboud “raised his voice, refusing to establish the minutes according to which Samaranda Nassar [a judge reputedly close to the camp of the party Aoun founded, the Free Patriotic...
President Michel Aoun focused a large part of his speech on Sunday on the head of the Higher Judicial Council Souheil Abboud, on whom he unleashed a direct attack.“Our innocent people are imprisoned because the HJC head does not want to appoint a judge who would look into their case,” the president said, in reference to the detention of Badri Daher in the aftermath of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion. Daher is close to Aoun and was serving as customs director at the port at the time of the blast.Aoun also said that during the session scheduled to appoint an alternate judge for Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigation into the 2020 port explosion, Abboud “raised his voice, refusing to establish the minutes according to which Samaranda Nassar [a judge reputedly close to the camp of the party Aoun founded, the Free...
