Sit-in by teachers in front of the Education Ministry in Beirut, March 6, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin)
Incarcerated at the end of December, Amal Chaaban, secretary of the Pre-University Equivalence Commission at the Lebanese Education Ministry, will remain in detention, in connection with the taking of bribes and illicit enrichment linked to the Iraqi students' diploma affair.
The Beirut Indictment Chamber, presided over by Judge Maher Cheaito, issued a ruling to this effect on Monday, overturning a previous decision by Beirut examining magistrate Assaad Bayram to release the civil servant, who is also head of the official school examinations department, on a bail of LL 100 million, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Dissatisfied with the release notice issued by Bayram, Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim last week referred the release decision to the prosecuting authority so it could take the appropriate decision.
The school equivalences provided by the Lebanese Education Ministry to Iraqi students are a reciprocal measure between Lebanon and Iraq. While Baghdad provides Lebanon with oil to improve its daily electricity supply, it also demands cooperation from the Lebanese authorities in the field of education. More specifically, the recognition of Iraqi school and university diplomas.
This measure should enable Iraqi students, civil servants and statesmen not only to enrol in universities in Lebanon or elsewhere but also to benefit from substantial advantages within the Iraqi civil service. A number of universities in Lebanon are receiving applications from Iraqi students to pursue their university studies, including the Islamic University of Lebanon (IUL), known for its proximity to the Shiite community, and Jinan University, known for its proximity to the Sunni community and particularly to the former leader of the Islamic Action Front, Fathi Yakan, who died in 2009.
However, requests for equivalence have since soared to several thousand. Overwhelmed, the Lebanese administration, whose civil servants are often on strike or at best only work twice a week, attempted to contain demand by establishing a protocol and lists of around 50 people whose applications it would process per day, in return for payment of $50 per person, reports an informed source, speaking on condition of anonymity. But accusations of corruption were soon reported, with some recounting having been forced to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 to complete the formality.
When politics gets involved
The testimonies shed light on the corruption endemic in the Education Ministry, as in the rest of the Lebanese public administration — a corruption against which caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi has pledged to fight.
But the story doesn't end there. Chaaban, a Sunni member of the Future Movement, now finds herself at the heart of a bitter battle between two opposing political blocs. On the one hand, the Future Movement and its group of Sunni allies, dubbed the "National Moderation," as well as the Christian parties the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb, are denouncing a cabal by the opposing camp against Chaaban, and procedures that run counter to her rights, with the sole aim of robbing her of her position, according to them. On the other hand, the Shiite parties Hezbollah and Amal formally accuse Chaaban of corruption. The investigation continues.
Halabi told L'Orient-Le Jour, "Let the judicial investigation take its course! Since the investigation began three or four months ago, I promised myself I wouldn't get involved. It's a matter of principle."