The Attorney General at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Ghada Aoun. (Credit: Marie-Jo Sader/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Mount Lebanon's Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun was summoned on Thursday by Lebanon's top prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, for questioning after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri filed a lawsuit against the judge.
Berri filed a lawsuit against Judge Aoun on Wednesday after she tweeted an image that contains a list of names of Lebanese officials who allegedly have Swiss bank accounts frozen by the US administration, including Berri and his wife, Randa Berri.
According to local news station LBCI, Judge Aoun was summoned by Oueidat for questioning over alleged slander. L'Orient Today could not immediately reach judge Oueidat or Judge Aoun for a comment.
The image tweeted by Judge Aoun, which was not dated, included the names of 17 Lebanese political figures who, according to the judge, are unable to withdraw funds from their frozen accounts. The image also included the balance of these accounts.
The tweet was later on deleted by Judge Aoun.
"A judge should not publish such information online. On what basis does [Judge Aoun] make these accusations? She should be able to back up her statements. It's been six years that she does what she wants," a source close to Berri told L'Orient-Le Jour on Wednesday, adding a call for Aoun "to be prosecuted by the Supreme Council of the Judiciary."
The Mount Lebanon prosecutor was previously referred to the Judicial Inspection in April 2021 after her highly-publicized raid of Mecattaf headquarters in Aoukar, north of Beirut. She also refused to comply with a decision by General Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidate to remove her from financial crimes cases.
Judge Aoun— who has prosecuted several officials in recent years, including Riad Salameh and the Mikati brothers — is often at the center of judicial scandal and is known to be close to the Free Patriotic Movement, founded by former President Michel Aoun and headed by his son-in-law, Gebran Bassil.