Former Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh during an interview with AFP in Beirut on Dec. 20, 2021. (Credit; Joseph Eid/AFP archives)
The Beirut Court of Indictment, presided over by Judge Kamal Nassar, dismissed proceedings against former Banque du Liban (BDL) Governor Riad Salameh in a case stemming from a complaint filed in June 2021 by businessman Talal Abu Ghazaleh, according to a statement from Salameh's lawyer, Wassim Ghaoui.
In his complaint, Abu Ghazaleh, who specializes in intellectual property and information technology, accused the former central bank governor of issuing "circulars aimed at changing the liberal economic system set out in the preamble of the Constitution ... in order to ... conceal the state of bankruptcy affecting the majority of banks in Lebanon."
As the holder of an account in a Lebanese bank, he also alleged "a clear and blatant collusion with these banks to appropriate depositors' deposits and funds."
The complaint was based on a charge of violating the Constitution under Article 301 of the Penal Code. The Beirut Court of Indictment dismissed the allegation and ruled in Salameh's favor.
"The proceedings arose from a direct criminal complaint filed by Mr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, following the indictment decision issued on June 18, 2026 by the Beirut Investigating Judge, President Roula Safir. In that decision, the Investigating Judge held that the former Governor's public statements reassuring the public regarding the stability of the Lebanese [lira] constituted the felony of undermining the Lebanese Constitution, and that the loss suffered by any bank depositor with respect to his or her deposits likewise constituted the felony of undermining the Constitution," Salameh's lawyer said.
