Ghada Aoun, the Attorney General at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, outside the Beirut Palace of Justice on May 4, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L’Orient-Le Jour)
The Attorney General of Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, commented on Wednesday via X about the provisional detention of the former governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL) Riad Salameh, which occurred the previous day. She stated that she is prepared to question him about other cases at his detention location.
Judge Aoun had initiated several legal proceedings against Salameh previously related to alleged corruption. Prosecutor Jamal Hajjar, who ordered Salameh's provisional detention on Tuesday, had requested last June that Aoun transfer all the financial crime files to him, including the one involving Optimum Invest (OI), which is central to the case leading to Salameh's arrest. This request was criticized by several observers as an attempt to sideline Aoun. According to a magistrate who spoke with L'OLJ on Tuesday, Aoun has not yet complied with this request. The OI case managed by her is separate from the case for which Hajjar interrogated Salameh.
On X, Aoun described Salameh's arrest as a "historic event," but stressed the need for the legal proceedings against him to be fully pursued "so that the Lebanese people can truly believe that the fight against corruption in Lebanon has begun." She noted that the Mount Lebanon Court of Cassation has issued "dozens of summonses against Riad Salameh" and referred to several cases, including the OI case she is handling and inconsistencies noted in the Alvarez & Marsal audit report.
Aoun questioned, "What prevents him from being brought to Baabda for questioning, given that he is currently under arrest?" referring to her office located at the Baabda Palace of Justice. She offered to visit Salameh's detention site to question him if necessary "for security reasons" and concluded by expressing hope that the "intentions" behind the former governor's detention "are good and that justice will prevail."
The interrogation requested by Hajjar is not directly linked to other investigations and proceedings against Salameh in Lebanon and abroad, such as the Forry case involving his brother Raja or the fake bank statements from AM Bank, all of which have not yet been judged on their merits.