"Call of the Nation" reports: As the "decisive milestone" approaches, and on the eve of the closure of the registration period for electoral "lists," the majority of March 8 continues to seek opportunities and reasons to remove the "May 15" card from the national calendar. They are fabricating arguments and conditions that could lead to sealing the ballot boxes and silencing the voices of voters who are resentful of the ruling mafioso authority, in order to prevent the desired democratic change in the majority and responsibility, and to thwart any attempt to free the Lebanese from the grip of the axis of killing, destruction, and impoverishment that has plundered their public and private wealth and deprived them of the dignity of living and the right to life.
Since the pillars of power are suffering from "excess and extravagance in consuming illicit money" after squandering the people's funds and indulging in corruption and mismanagement "to the point of famine among the Lebanese," the message of Ramadan served as an occasion for Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abd al-Latif Deryan to strike at the strongholds of the thieves controlling the state. Yesterday, he sounded a loud alarm against "the corrupt authority that has driven Lebanon to the abyss," urging the Lebanese to fulfill their duty to "get rid of this corrupt gang" through massive participation in the parliamentary elections, believing that "any alternative is better than this authority."
On this basis, he addressed the Lebanese saying: "The elections come first, which is as important as the slogan 'Lebanon First' that we all called for once and still holds priority, for there is no homeland without citizens. We envision our country as a dear homeland without rulers, climbers, or advocates of armed militias." While encouraging "all Lebanese to go to the polls" on May 15, Mufti Deryan also warned against the malicious plan of the authorities, noting that they "want us to remain silent and sit in our homes or emigrate, and we do not want to do either." He added: "The time of submission and fear is over; the promise of a revolution against the oppressors, tyrants, and corrupt has begun... We go to the elections together and initiate producing alternatives together; their weapon is sedition and intimidation, while our weapon is gathering and trust in the ability of the Lebanese to reform and innovate."
As for the latest developments regarding the Governor of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh, it drew attention after days when five European countries confiscated assets and properties belonging to suspects in money laundering and embezzlement of public funds, including Salameh and his brother Raja. Yesterday, it was announced that the Attorney General of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Aouidat, requested the freezing of European bank accounts belonging to the Central Bank governor. Concurrently, the Attorney General of Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, appealed the decision of the first investigating judge in Mount Lebanon, Nicola Mansour, to release Salameh's brother on a bail of 500 billion Lebanese pounds, and referred the case yesterday to the prosecutor's office to determine whether he would be released or kept detained pending investigation.
While Reuters reported, citing what it described as a senior judicial source, asserting that the appeal attorney general sent a message yesterday to the Lebanese Ministry of Justice informing it of his request "to freeze the assets owned by Salameh and his partners in banks in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg," the source clarified that this message was part of "prosecuting the Central Bank governor for the embezzlement of public funds, tax evasion, and money laundering." However, a judicial source closely following this case expressed astonishment at "all this fuss" that accompanied the news of the Attorney General of Cassation's request to freeze European bank accounts belonging to the Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, revealing to "Call of the Nation" that "this request is not new but rather over a month old." In this context, the source pointed out that "Judge Aouidat had previously corresponded with the Litigation Authority in the Ministry of Justice regarding freezing Salameh's funds in some foreign countries." In response to a question, the senior judicial source preferred not to delve further into the details of the case, merely emphasizing that Aouidat's request falls within "the framework of the Lebanese judiciary following up on the European seizure of the Central Bank governor's accounts, thus entering this process under the judicial intervention to protect Lebanon's funds and nothing more."
The head of the Litigation Authority in the Ministry of Justice, Helana Iskandar, had previously requested to seize Salameh's funds "to prevent their confiscation" by the countries investigating the source of his wealth, considering them "legally belonging to the Lebanese state." She also requested that the Minister of Finance assign a lawyer to assist her before foreign courts in order to seize Salameh's and his partners' funds for the benefit of the state.
