Caretaker Minister of the Interior Bassam Mawlawi is expected to authorize the military and civil courts to prosecute Director-General of the Internal Security Forces General Imad Othman for corruption. The latter would therefore be obliged to appear in court.
Speaking at Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) in Beirut, Mawlawi affirmed that “we at the Ministry of the Interior are working on dossiers with the purpose of combating corruption, and we will continue to work with all our partners to rebuild the nation.” He insisted that the Ministry “will not hesitate to give the necessary authorizations to the relevant judiciary body to prosecute offenders. We will not allow corruption to persist in Lebanon,” Mawlawi insisted.
This is a courageous decision that should serve as an example, especially for the investigation into the double explosion of August 4, 2020, which has remained blocked for almost two years, mainly due to the refusal of political leaders to allow the judge to question certain officials and former ministers.
Sunni discontent
However, this decision provoked the discontent of certain Sunni representatives. Among them, Walid Baarini, MP for the “National Moderation” bloc. Baarini denounced this as “an attack for personal reasons” on the part of Mawlawi, whom Baarini claims “took this decision without consulting caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.” He added, “It’s as if the Sunni community lacked examples of tragedy and betrayal.”
Ihab Matar, MP for Tripoli, demanded clarification from the Minister regarding this decision.
