Former BDL Governor Riad Salameh. (File photo: Mohammad Azakir/Reuters)
The $14 million bail paid by Riad Salameh’s defense for his release was deposited into the Judges’ Mutual Fund. The choice of this recipient was challenged by Melhem Khalaf, MP for Beirut II, who viewed it as a violation of the law.
“The $14 million [bail] was paid to an entity lacking legal authority to receive public funds of a criminal nature,” Khalaf stated in his question to the Cabinet. He added that “this sets a dangerous precedent, undermines public funds, and raises suspicions about the destination of these funds and their management mechanisms.”
The MP warned against such practices that “pose a threat to the principle of the law’s sovereignty,” calling on the government — and more specifically the Justice and Finance Ministries — to provide “clarifications.”
Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour, Khalaf noted that several other legal texts also require bail payments to be made to the Justice Palace. He specifically cited a decree from July 13, 1936, which stipulates that guarantees must be deposited by litigants into the Treasury funds located at the headquarters of the governorates or districts where the competent court sits, “not to any other fund.”
Lack of control mechanisms
“In a state governed by the rule of law, how can anyone permit the law to be violated by allowing a bail payment to be made to a fund other than the one designated by the law?” Khalaf said, and asked who authorized the deposit into the Judges’ Mutual Fund.
Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour, a judicial source stated that it was the Indictment Chamber, which, after deciding on the release, also designated the recipient. The source rejected “any allegation of a law violation,” and noted that the Judges’ Mutual Fund is a “judicial fund” that ensures the protection of state funds and the rights of litigants.
The same source emphasized that any jurisdiction has discretion regarding where the bail is deposited, especially given that, under the current circumstances, the required security conditions for keeping cash in the justice palaces are not met — due in particular to the lack of surveillance cameras and other control mechanisms. By contrast, the Judges’ Mutual Fund is equipped, according to the source, with safes and security systems that are “modern and adequate.
When asked about the fact that, under current regulations, the Judges’ Mutual Fund receives a percentage of the bail deposits made to it, the above mentioned source indicated that it is natural for judges to benefit from this remuneration, especially since they constantly work to protect the rights of litigants while struggling to have their own rights recognized.
Khalaf demanded opening “an urgent judicial investigation” and “the prosecution of those responsible for this serious violation.”
Another judicial source told our newspaper that the Indictement Chamber ordered that the money in question be deposited with the Judges’ Mutual Fund because it issued the release decision on Friday, while the Justice Palace Fund — under the Ministry of Finance — was closed. The court reportedly considered it unfair to keep a person in prison over the weekend when they were able to pay the bail on Friday.
In any case, Finance Minister Yassin Jaber has the right to request that these funds be transferred to his ministry’s coffers, the source added, and noted that he simply needs to make a formal request to the Judges’ Mutual Fund.
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