The Public Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, met with the Director General of Internal Security Forces, Major General Imad Othman, at his office in the courthouse at Othman's request. They discussed the contents of a memorandum issued by General Othman to the judicial police regarding how to handle flagrant crimes, in light of the judges' strike and the refusal of public prosecutors in the regions to take calls from the security forces and give the necessary signals.
After the meeting, General Othman stated, "I came to meet President Ghassan Oueidat at my own request, and we clarified what was included in the internal memorandum issued two months ago, which has raised confusion today for unknown reasons, as if some believe that security is not an important reason that requires attention and follow-up."
General Othman emphasized that the memorandum "was issued to encourage officers and security personnel to carry out their duties, and we agreed with the Appeal Public Prosecution some time ago to address the issue of judicial signals in light of the ongoing judicial strike."
Othman added, "The idea of preventive detention in the case of a flagrant crime is based on Article 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that 'the judicial officer goes to the crime scene and arrests the suspects.' Additionally, Article 217 of Law 17 (Internal Security Forces Law) includes the same wording found in Article 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure." Othman confirmed that "there are no detainees without a judicial signal, and what we intended in the memorandum is to encourage security personnel to travel to the crime scene in the case of a flagrant crime and then address the Public Prosecutor."
He continued, "Some believe that what we are doing applies to all crimes; we are specifically discussing cases of flagrant crimes here, and there is an advisory from the Legislative and Advisory Authority in the Ministry of Justice confirming that the security forces must take the necessary measures upon the occurrence of a flagrant crime." He pointed out that "in ordinary crimes, the security forces act only based on a referral from the public prosecutors."
General Othman reiterated that "there is no disagreement with the Public Prosecutor, and perhaps there are those who want to undermine security in Lebanon, and we will not allow that."
