Sami Sader succeeds Ghada Aoun in interim

Deputy Attorney General Sami Sader succeeded Ghada Aoun on Monday as prosecutor general of the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal. As the highest-ranking member of the office, he assumed the position by right, without explicit designation, on an interim basis pending judicial appointments that could either confirm him in the role or lead to the appointment of a colleague.

After taking office, Sader received the case involving the $2.5 million seized last Friday at Beirut's international airport from Court of Cassation Prosecutor General Jamal Hajjar, who requested that he initiate proceedings against the man who attempted to bring the funds into Lebanon from Turkey.

Sader is known in judicial circles for his experience and expertise in criminal justice. From the mid-2000s until 2017, he served as deputy government commissioner at the military tribunal. In that role, he prosecuted former Minister Michel Samaha and former Syrian State Security Intelligence Chief Ali Mamlouk in 2012, accusing them of planning the assassination of political and religious figures in Lebanon. The case involved explosives that Samaha attempted to smuggle into Lebanon, allegedly to incite sectarian unrest.

Sader also handled cases involving members of the radical Islamist group Fateh el-Islam, who fought deadly battles against the army in Nahr el-Bared in 2007. He investigated terrorism-related cases in Arsal, in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa region, involving the Islamic State group and the al-Nusra Front in 2005.