The Justice Palace in Beirut. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Beirut's First Investigative Judge Charbel Abou Samra on Tuesday postponed a scheduled hearing of Banque du Liban's Raja Salameh and Marianne Hoayek due to an electricity cut, according to a L'Orient-Le Jour reporter who witnessed the scene.
Raja Salameh (brother of Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh) and Marianne Hoayaek (Riad Salameh's former assistant) arrived at Abou Samra's office at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday but left about half an hour later after the power cutoff. Security officials prevented journalists and lawyers from staying in the vicinity of the office.
The next hearing was set for Wednesday, Aug. 2. Judge Abou Samra also plans to question Riad Salameh, whom he had already heard on July 12 and 18. It will be up to Judge Abou Samra to decide who to question on Wednesday, given that he is unlikely to have time to conduct three interrogations in a single day.
At the end of the hearing on July 18, Abou Samra decided not to investigate Riad Salameh until further notice. At the time, a judicial source stated that he intended to investigate witnesses, notably from the banking sector. He was supposed to decide whether to question the governor again, dismiss the case in his favor or charge him in light of these testimonies.
However, Hélène Iskandar, President of the Cases Authority at the Ministry of Justice, who had attended last week's hearing, contested the decision and submitted a request to Judge Abou Samra on Tuesday, asking him to investigate the BDL governor without waiting for the witnesses. Her request was added to the case, and Riad Salameh will therefore have to appear next Wednesday before the First Investigative Judge of Beirut.
