Beirut's Justice Palace. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Kuwaiti producer and journalist Nadia Ahmad and her Lebanese husband, entrepreneur Ali Farhat, are fighting over custody of their two-year-old daughter and have given contradictory accounts.
In a statement issued Monday evening, the Internal Security Forces claimed that Ali Farhat "obtained custody of the child on March 8, 2023" by court order, well before Ahmad, who based her claim on a decision issued by a different court, dated July 6, which also granted her custody of their child, Roma.
Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour on Tuesday, Farhat explained that the decision in his favor was granted by Sheikh Moussa Samouri, judge at the Jaafarite court in Chiyah, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Farhat sent L'Orient-Le Jour a copy of the court decision, which appointed him as Roma's legal guardian.
Ahmad told L'Orient-Le Jour that proceedings are being taken against her husband for "forgery" and "attempting to defraud justice."
Muslim courts, including Jaafarite courts, are part of the Lebanese judicial system. By law, they have jurisdiction over marriage, divorce, dowry, alimony, child custody and inheritance. In Lebanon's Shiite community, mothers generally have custody of their daughters until the age of seven, after which custody reverts to the father.
Two courts, two versions
Published on Monday evening, the ISF statement denounced "information relayed on social networks, which insinuates that the Batroun police station played a role in the abduction of the child," and denied these allegations.
Ahmad posted a video on her social networks, allegedly taken at the Batroun police station, where she could be heard speaking to an officer, asking him if she could see her daughter
The ISF stated that Farhat "obtained custody of the child on March 8, 2023, following a decision" by the courts. Months later, on July 10, Ahmad "informed her husband that she had obtained custody of the child, by decision of another Jaafarite court," the statement continued.
According to the police, Ahmad lodged a complaint against Farhat on July 11 for kidnapping their daughter. She filed another complaint in Batroun on July 21, and the father's statement was heard the same day.
The matter should be 'settled in court'
Farhat then returned with his daughter the following day, the police continued. Roma "was with her father and left the center with him, without any restraint, screaming or crying," said the ISF. Police officers at the Batroun station allowed Ahmad to see her child for an hour, but "the mother left the station without doing so." Police called for the matter to be "settled in court."
Farhat told L'Orient-Le Jour "it affects me a lot, because she [Ahmad] managed to spread all her propaganda on the subject."
"I call her on WhatsApp, she blocks me! She's going to drink, do drugs, and she wants the child back?" he accused.
"The decision given to Nadia [Ahmad] on July 6 is not final, and it's not even enforceable," Farhat said.
He sent L'Orient-Le Jour a copy of the decision of the Chiyah Jaafarite court, dated Feb. 28. The document appoints him Roma's legal guardian "with full rights of protection according to what is in the child's best interest," and mentions that Farhat "has filed an application to place Nadia Ahmad under guardianship for dementia, alcohol and psychotropic dependence."
The court's decision is "immediately enforceable from March 8, 2023 and until further notice," the text concluded.
Forgery and use of forgeries?
Farhat sent L'Orient another document issued by the public prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Raed Abou Chakra, requesting Ahmad's imprisonment for six months. The document is dated April 2023.
Asked about these facts, Ahmad told L'Orient-Le Jour, "It's the decision of July 6 that prevails, because it's the most recent. I have every right to invoke it and ask the authorities to apply it."
"The public prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Nazeh Khatib, has instituted proceedings against Ali Farhat for forgery and attempted fraud against the law," she continued.
L'Orient was able to consult the decision in question, dated July 17.
The judicial face-off continues with lawsuits, court orders and judicial opinions.
