MTV CEO Michel Murr intends to appeal the legal decision declaring him unfit to keep his position. (Credit: OLJ archive photo)
Michel Murr, CEO of the local TV channel MTV, intends to appeal against the Jan. 3 ruling by the Mount Lebanon Court of Trade in Jdeideh, declaring him ineligible to continue being a member of the TV channel’s Board of Directors, and therefore to chair it, a person close to Murr told L’Orient-Le Jour on condition of anonymity.
Judge Eliane Saber, president of this Court of First Instance, and her two assessors, Samar Abdel Hadi and Jenny Shami, declared that Murr’s conviction in May 2021 in an illegal internet network case was “final.”
The judicial decision follows a lawsuit by Jihad and Carole Murr, Michel’s brother and sister, filed before the Court of Trade in December 2021, demanding his removal from the position.
The plaintiffs based their case on Article 148 of the Code of Commerce, which states that “any person who committed an offense may not be chosen as a member of the board of directors of a company.”
In its ruling, the court referred in this respect to a decision by the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, dated April 27, 2020, sentencing the CEO of MTV to one year in prison and to pay the state a fine in the illegal internet network case.
The case was brought before the State after former Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb submitted conclusions to the cabinet. Having paid the fine demanded by the Court of Appeal, Murr was exempted from serving the prison sentence.
‘Politics’
Murr immediately appealed to the Criminal Court of Cassation, which upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling on May 18, 2021. Hence the decision by the Mount Lebanon Court of Commerce in Jdeideh to declare the conviction as “final.”
Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour on condition of anonymity, a person close to Michel Murr refuted the “final” nature of the ruling. He pointed out that the Court of Cassation’s confirmatory ruling came “more than a year” after that of the Court of Appeal.
According to this source, the president of the chamber of the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar, who was initially due to consider the legality of the Court of Appeal’s decision, had “procrastinated” for nearly 10 months before ultimately withdrawing.
The source attributed this procrastination to “politics,” as well as the ruling handed down later, “in seven days,” by the members of the Criminal Court of Cassation, chaired by Souheir Harakeh. The latter is reputed to be close to Amal and Hezbollah, the above-mentioned source said.
On June 1, 2021, after the Criminal Court rejected his appeal, Michel Murr brought an action for damages against the state before the plenary assembly of the Court of Cassation. However, the latter is unable to meet due to the lack of a quorum and the political tug-of-war that is hampering judicial appointments. In any event, the Court of First Instance presided over by Eliane Saber ruled that the appeal before the plenary assembly “is not such as to suspend the judgment of conviction.”
Michel Murr has not yet been notified of the court’s decision to declare him ineligible to be a board member. He will have 30 days from the date of notification to submit an appeal. Sources told L’Orient-Le Jour that Murr intends to use this means of recourse to try retain his position, considering that the appeal has a suspensive effect, and the proceedings are likely to drag on long before the verdict.
In the illegal internet network case, Michel Murr’s associate believes that he “has not really had the right to a third level of jurisdiction,” due to the “bias” of the Chamber of Cassation. He recalled that on Feb. 4, 2018, he had benefited from a nonsuit order by the Metn criminal judge Mansour Kahi, before being dismissed by the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation, whose decision, he said, is “politicized.”
About the offense
He deplored the fact that, in any event, Article 148 of the Code of Commerce, on which the Court of Trade based its decision to prohibit Michel Murr from sitting on the Board of Directors, contains a loophole, since it does not specify the nature of the “offense” that rendered him incompetent to sit on a Board of Directors.
In his view, it is inconceivable, for example, to be disqualified from holding such a position just for having caused injury to a person in a road accident or fireworks display.
In his opinion, the law should therefore be amended to be made more precise.
However, a person close to Carole Murr dismissed this argument. “In this case, the offense is theft from the State,” he told L’Orient-Le Jour on condition of anonymity.
If the Court of Appeal decides that Michel Murr is not fit to chair the board of directors, someone close to him, such as his son or younger brother Karl, could be given the job, said a person close to the file. Michel Murr could thus run the channel as managing director, a position that is not subject to the restrictions of Article 148 of the Code of Commerce.
It should be noted that Jihad and Carole Murr, who own 20 percent of MTV’s shares, and who held the positions of executive director and finance director respectively, are no longer members of MTV’s Board of Directors since new members were elected by the General Assembly in September 2019.
Both are contesting these meetings of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly on the grounds that they were not convened in accordance with the required procedures. This argument was rejected by the Court of First Instance and could be repeated should Jihad and Carole Murr decide to appeal.
The dispute has pitted Carole and Jihad Murr against their brother since 2019. Carole and Jihad Murr accuse Michel of having diverted money from advertising, intended for the company, to his personal account. With a full discharge from the General Assembly (refuted by the Court of Trade), Michel Murr considers that the money was due to him.
Also in 2019, Michel Murr was the subject of a complaint lodged for “intimidation, threats and attempted murder” by his father Gabriel Murr, founder of MTV, who sides with Jihad and Carole Murr. This camp issued a press release on Friday stating that “Michel Murr’s days on the MTV Board of Directors are now numbered.”
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.
