Melhem Khalaf, assaulted in front of the Beirut courthouse gate. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine)
MP Melhem Khalaf, also the former president of the Beirut Bar Association (BBA), was knocked over and beaten on Tuesday during a sit-in held in front of the Justice Palace in support of three lawyers and activists Wassef Harakeh, Ali Abbas and Pierre Gemayel, who are campaigning for the resumption of the investigations into the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut port.
In footage posted on social media, Khalaf was talking to army soldiers and law enforcement officers. He was then pushed away by one of them, and others raised their batons and struck in his direction.
Other lawyers, including Issam Khoury, were attacked at the same time, a member of the bar who was present there told L’Orient-Le Jour on condition of anonymity. The member of the Bar Association added that the attack was “premeditated.”
“The former president of the Beirut Bar Association had asked to go inside the Justice Palace, accompanied by a large number of lawyers partaking in the sit-in. The security forces accepted his request, on the condition that they show their membership cards,” said the above-mentioned member of the Bar.
“All of a sudden, MP Khalaf was told that he was banned from entering the palace, before being violently pushed back,” he added.
In his capacity as former president of the Bar Association, and at the request of the three activist lawyers, Khalaf was due to take part in the hearing to which the BBA Council had summoned them. This came after Advocate General at the Court of Appeal Zaher Hamadeh requested [the council] to authorize their prosecution for “humiliation of justice, defamation and insults.”
Before granting or denying him this authorization, the BBA Council had to inquire with the lawyers about the accusations which are based on Article 383 of the Criminal Code, which relates to directing expressions of contempt at a public employee in the form of words, motions or intimidation.
In September, the ISF investigated the Aug. 3, 2023 raid into the Justice Palace by demonstrators who were raising photos of the political, security and judicial officials they accuse of impeding the investigation into the explosion.
The photos, which had the inscription of “Fugitives,” were thrown to the ground and trampled on by the demonstrators, including the three above-mentioned lawyers, L’Orient-Le Jour read in the ISF statement. “They filmed their actions and posted them on social media,” the document added.
William Noun, whose brother was killed in the blast, and Harakeh were prosecuted by Judge Zaher Hamadeh in January and February 2023 respectively, for issues also connected to their advocacy in favor of resuming the port investigation.
There will be no fear
On Tuesday afternoon, Khalaf commented on the attack against him, saying that the use of “violence” is “the first sign of desperation.” “The message is delivered … and your violence will not create fear,” he wrote on X. “We will continue to confront the coup d’état until the end.”
Early this evening, the BBA Council, chaired by Fadi Masri, issued a statement denouncing “the attack on his fellows, including a former president of the Bar Association who is well-known for his commitment to upholding the Constitution and enforcing the law.”
“We insist that the necessary investigations be carried out and that judicial and disciplinary measures be taken against the perpetrators [of the attack] and those they account for,” the statement added, calling for “the toughest sanctions,” to be taken.
The National News Agency reported that the President of the Beirut Bar Association contacted the acting Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar, to convey the BBA Council’s demands.
L’Orient-Le Jour tried to speak to senior members of Parliament’s administration, but they declined to comment on the incident, saying that they did not have the jurisdiction to do so. The same goes for an army administrative official, who said that only an official statement would express the position of the army’s command.
Commenting on Hamadeh’s proceedings that he seeks to bring against the three lawyers, Abbas said, “This is not the first time” they summoned lawyers representing the victims in the Beirut port explosion. “Intimidation and attempts to muzzle our voices will not stop us from demanding [that the judiciary] probe into corruption files,” he told L’Orient-Le Jour, urging the judiciary to “carry out its task independently, rather than serving as a tool for the political class.”
L’Orient-Le Jour learned that the three lawyers were interviewed by the Justice Palace commissioner with the government and member of the BBA Council, Maya Zaghrini, who is expected to present their case to the BBA Council.
They then met with the BBA president with whom they discussed the case. At a forthcoming meeting set for Friday, the BBA Council will have to decide whether or not to lift the lawyers’ immunity.
Any decision can be subject to appeal before the Beirut chamber at the Court of Appeal, chaired by Ayman Oueidat, which has the jurisdiction to rule on cases involving trade unions and syndicates.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated by Joelle El Khoury.