Jean Kahwaji and 4 other ex-officers escape justice due to statute of limitations

While the commitment to judicial reform expressed by both President Joseph Aoun, and the Prime Minister-designate, Nawaf Salam, had rekindled hopes of holding accountable civil service officials, five of the eight former top army and General Security officers accused of illicit enrichment are now beyond the reach of justice.Beirut’s first investigative judge, Bilal Halawi, recently issued a decision that dropped the charges pressed against former army chief Jean Kahwaji (2008-2017), ex-intelligence chief Edmond Fadel, the former head of the army’s intelligence in Beirut Georges Khamis, retired army officer Abdel-Rahman Shhaytli and former General Security officer Ahmad al-Jamal.However, Halawi did charge ex-intelligence chief Camille Daher, the former head of Kahwaji’s office, Mohammad Jaafar al-Husseini, and the former head of army...