The Attorney General of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, has summoned the Public Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, to a hearing scheduled for next Monday. The session aims to interrogate her regarding a complaint filed against her by the Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, and his wife, Randa, for crimes of defamation, incitement of sectarian and denominational strife, and abuse of power.
On Wednesday, Berri, through his legal representative Dr. Ali Rahal, submitted a complaint against Aoun before the Public Prosecutor of Cassation, stemming from a tweet made by Aoun. In the tweet, she included the names of political, ministerial, parliamentary, and banking leaders, claiming they had smuggled tens of billions of dollars into Swiss banks, including Berri and his wife. No other political figures listed in her tweet have filed a similar complaint against the mentioned judge.
A judicial source confirmed to "Asharq Al-Awsat" that "depending on Aoun's testimony, if her commission of a crime is established, Judge Oueidat will charge her and inform the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Suhail Aboud, who will then appoint an investigating judge to interrogate her and take appropriate action against her." The source also clarified that "the Judicial Justice Law does not permit the investigating judge or any other judicial body to issue an arrest warrant against the accused judge, irrespective of the crime, unless the President of the Supreme Judicial Council approves such a decision."
Judge Aoun has personally been notified of her summons and is expected to attend the Office of the Attorney General of Cassation on Monday, unlike previous occasions when she refused to appear before the Cassation Prosecutor’s Office for investigations regarding complaints raised against her by individuals affected by her earlier decisions, especially from those she was pursuing for financial crimes, including bank owners and directors who accused her of acting out of malice for political reasons.
The list published by Aoun includes the names of Lebanese officials, including Berri, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Riad Salameh, and leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt, among others. She alleged that these individuals have frozen accounts in Switzerland. In her tweet, the Public Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon stated: "I do not know the accuracy of this information. But why don’t the individuals mentioned in this list disclose their accounts with Swiss banks? For the sake of transparency only." She also added: "In any case, I hope there will be a provision in the banking secrecy law, which I will start studying, and I also hope lawyers will comment on it." Later, Aoun deleted the tweet from her Twitter account.
