Release of Stock Exchange Office Holders in Nabatieh

The appellate public prosecution in Nabatieh approved the decision to release eight stock exchange office holders, issued by investigating judge Hussein Hussein, following a month of their detention at the State Security office in Nabatieh. The legal representative of some of the detained individuals, Haitham Azzo, stated that "justice cannot be relative and fragmented in any judicial file, as it is not possible to detain some individuals while others, who are pursued for the same criminal act, are not. It is either to detain all stock exchange office holders in Lebanon or to simply seal all their offices without detaining anyone." He affirmed that "stock exchange office holders are legally just commercial agents of stock companies and not their owners; therefore, they cannot be pursued without first pursuing the owners of the companies they work for, as it is inconsistent to pursue the commission-based worker without pursuing the business owner." He explained that "the financial stock market is practiced in all countries around the world and requires regulation, not elimination, as this would negatively impact the internal financial market and, consequently, the country's economy." The families of the detainees gathered outside the State Security office in Nabatieh, waiting for their release.