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William Bourdon participated in conference held on Wednesday, June 21, by the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Saint Joseph University (USJ). The event was led by none other than Marie-Claude Najm, a close ally of the Aounists (pro ex-President Michel Aoun) and former minister in Hassan Diab’s government. As expected, throughout his speech, William Bourdon relentlessly targeted the financial sector without referring to any of the Lebanese political leaders responsible for the financial crisis.

William Bourdon indulged in populist slogans before an audience that was far from receptive to his message. He used without any hesitation terms such as “mass killers”, “global mob rule”, “mafia”, “professional dishonor”, and “cynical defense system.”

On Wednesday, June 21, the founder of the Sherpa Association was hosted by the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FDSP) at USJ, during which he raised the banner of a noble cause: “The recovery of ill-gotten assets and the preservation of the rights and interests of the state.”

However, his presentation was rather aggressive in content as well as biased in substance.

In full view of the conniving and admiring glances of former minister and session moderator Marie-Claude Najm and lawyer Karim Daher, William Bourdon launched a vehement attack on his favorite scapegoats: the Lebanese Central Bank’s Governor Riad Salameh and the commercial banks. Not a word was uttered about the responsibility of the political class or the state’s responsibility in a collapsing country. There was also no mention of Hezbollah’s responsibility or its parallel and illegal financial networks. In a neocolonialist reflex, William Bourdon stated, “There are numerous VIP names, and we will take care of them.”

Moreover, William Bourdon, visibly uncomfortable, declined to answer a crucial question about “insider trading related to the default of Eurobond payments,” a decision made by Hassan Diab’s government in March 2020.

No one was able to ask Bourdon about the stark contrast between the image of incorruptibility he portrays and his proven close ties with Lebanese figures associated with Gebran Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Bassil is under US sanctions for corruption, a topic that was mentioned several times in This is Beirut. Moreover, a local and international network serving the Aounists has been seeking to bring down Michel Aoun’s political opponents, especially Riad Salameh, whom Bassil intends to replace with a governor that he can control.

Aoun, Harfoush, Goulet, Bourdon

On April 4, 2022, the “dangerous liaisons” (involving Aoun, Harfoush, Goulet and Bourdon) went public. A symposium, held in an annex of the French Senate, brought together this unusual mix of personalities to discuss the issue of “compensation for victims of corruption and armed conflicts.”

An intriguing convergence of interests emerged between the different figures. Ghada Aoun, a “notorious” Lebanese prosecutor who acts as a judicial instrument for the former Lebanese presidency, and who was removed from her post for abuse of power in May, tops the list. Next comes a controversial and wealthy Lebanese businessman with political ambitions in Lebanon, Omar Harfoush, who suffered a resounding defeat in the last legislative elections. These are followed by a French Senator from Orne and member of the Centrist Union, Nathalie Goulet, whose name has appeared in several sensitive political financing cases (Qatar, Azerbaijan), and William Bourdon.

Beset with such transgressions, justice is at risk of completely losing its sense of direction.