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Mohamad Shmaysani Readers Number : 22
05/05/2009 The Lebanese are eying the special meeting for the Higher Judicial Council Tuesday afternoon to look into the case of the judiciary’s handling of the four Generals case, particularly Judges Said Mirza and Sakr Sakr. The four Generals, former General Security chief Jamil Sayyed, former director of the Internal Security Forces Ali Hajj, former Military Intelligence chief Raymond Azar, and former Republican Guards chief Mustapha Hamdan, were released by orders of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon after three years and eight months of detention in Lebanon without charges and without trial.
Mirza, who is involved in the detention of the Generals left the country Monday bound for the Czech Republic for “rest.” Mirza is also the HJC deputy chief.
Those judges have taken the oath, and they will have to prove they really respect their oath by taking the proper measures at the HJC meeting,” former minister Michael Smeha told Al-Manar.
Al-Manar also learned that on the eve of the HJC meeting, Lebanese Force chief Samir Geagea contacted judge Sakr Sakr and urged him not to retreat or resign. However Sakr denied that Geagea had contacted.
Well informed judicial sources told Al-Manar that it was unlikely that the HJC meeting on Tuesday would yield any ‘surprising’ results.
“On the contrary, there will be condemnations to the political interference in the judiciary and to the offensive by some politicians and some ‘officers’ against some judges. They will also stress that any assault against any judge is an assault against the judiciary as a whole. They will demand consolidating the judiciary’s independence in harmony with the Lebanese constitution. And they will call for those harmed to follow legal paths and principles; and therefore the Council is not likely to take any measure against judges Mirza and Sakr,” a judicial source told Al-Manar
Lawyers representing the four generals were ready to file a lawsuit against Mirza and Saqr.
Mohamad Shmaysani Readers Number : 22
05/05/2009 The Lebanese are eying the special meeting for the Higher Judicial Council Tuesday afternoon to look into the case of the judiciary’s handling of the four Generals case, particularly Judges Said Mirza and Sakr Sakr. The four Generals, former General Security chief Jamil Sayyed, former director of the Internal Security Forces Ali Hajj, former Military Intelligence chief Raymond Azar, and former Republican Guards chief Mustapha Hamdan, were released by orders of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon after three years and eight months of detention in Lebanon without charges and without trial.
Mirza, who is involved in the detention of the Generals left the country Monday bound for the Czech Republic for “rest.” Mirza is also the HJC deputy chief.
Those judges have taken the oath, and they will have to prove they really respect their oath by taking the proper measures at the HJC meeting,” former minister Michael Smeha told Al-Manar.
Al-Manar also learned that on the eve of the HJC meeting, Lebanese Force chief Samir Geagea contacted judge Sakr Sakr and urged him not to retreat or resign. However Sakr denied that Geagea had contacted.
Well informed judicial sources told Al-Manar that it was unlikely that the HJC meeting on Tuesday would yield any ‘surprising’ results.
“On the contrary, there will be condemnations to the political interference in the judiciary and to the offensive by some politicians and some ‘officers’ against some judges. They will also stress that any assault against any judge is an assault against the judiciary as a whole. They will demand consolidating the judiciary’s independence in harmony with the Lebanese constitution. And they will call for those harmed to follow legal paths and principles; and therefore the Council is not likely to take any measure against judges Mirza and Sakr,” a judicial source told Al-Manar
Lawyers representing the four generals were ready to file a lawsuit against Mirza and Saqr.
Readers Number : 75
04/05/2009 The head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun criticizes on Monday the trip of Judge Said Mirza, one of two judges involved in the four Generals case, to Czech on the eve of the scheduled meeting of the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) set to discuss the issue.
Speaking to reporters following his bloc's weekly meeting, Aoun said that the lack of evidence and suspicions in the case of the generals detained since 2005 without charges over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri reveals a politicization of the issue or a misunderstanding.
"Everything revealed in Hariri's murder is false; so are the techniques and the witnesses," the General said, concluding that the issue was merely a settling of scores. "The goal of the investigation was to cast unsubstantiated accusations against Syria," he explained.
"We started talking about the judiciary prior to the generals' release," Aoun said, noting that there is a hierarchal responsibility that starts with the ministry and passes through the ministers. "The four generals can not be charged only under the former tutelage's authority, because they belong to the ministries of interior and defense."
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader announced that he would propose a draft regarding the judiciary "because it should not be under the control of the executive authority." He held the Lebanese politicians responsible of the whole politicization of the judiciary, accusing them of "corrupting" the judiciary. "We must tackle this issue," he said.
Meanwhile, Aoun emphasized that some municipality mayors were serving as heads of electoral machinery. He expressed hopes that the Interior Minister would handle the issue, stressing his refusal to tolerate any violations anymore.
"Any municipality mayor or regular employee being threatened over the phone can record the call and leave the rest on me," he told Lebanese citizens. "We want to get rid of the threats," he concluded.
Geagea Assails Opposition: You Have No Right to Criticize Judiciary!
04/05/2009 The head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun criticizes on Monday the trip of Judge Said Mirza, one of two judges involved in the four Generals case, to Czech on the eve of the scheduled meeting of the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) set to discuss the issue.
Speaking to reporters following his bloc's weekly meeting, Aoun said that the lack of evidence and suspicions in the case of the generals detained since 2005 without charges over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri reveals a politicization of the issue or a misunderstanding.
"Everything revealed in Hariri's murder is false; so are the techniques and the witnesses," the General said, concluding that the issue was merely a settling of scores. "The goal of the investigation was to cast unsubstantiated accusations against Syria," he explained.
"We started talking about the judiciary prior to the generals' release," Aoun said, noting that there is a hierarchal responsibility that starts with the ministry and passes through the ministers. "The four generals can not be charged only under the former tutelage's authority, because they belong to the ministries of interior and defense."
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader announced that he would propose a draft regarding the judiciary "because it should not be under the control of the executive authority." He held the Lebanese politicians responsible of the whole politicization of the judiciary, accusing them of "corrupting" the judiciary. "We must tackle this issue," he said.
Meanwhile, Aoun emphasized that some municipality mayors were serving as heads of electoral machinery. He expressed hopes that the Interior Minister would handle the issue, stressing his refusal to tolerate any violations anymore.
"Any municipality mayor or regular employee being threatened over the phone can record the call and leave the rest on me," he told Lebanese citizens. "We want to get rid of the threats," he concluded.
Geagea Assails Opposition: You Have No Right to Criticize Judiciary! Hussein Assi Readers Number : 74
04/05/2009 Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea joined on Monday the procession of the Lebanese judiciary's defenders…
Geagea, who claimed without proof for years and years that the Lebanese judiciary was "oppressing" him, decided to raise his voice, but this time, to reject the national opposition's jealousy over the honesty of the Lebanese judiciary.
Speaking during a press conference he held to address the issue, Geagea embroiled himself in a full contradiction. At one stage, he says that the four Generals detained since 2005 over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri were never charged or prosecuted. Then, at another stage, he expresses belief that the release of the four Generals does not mean they were innocent.
"The four generals' release does not prove whether they were involved in the assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri or they were not," Geagea claimed. "The release of the generals was due to a lack of evidence, not innocence, so their release doesn't mean they aren’t linked to Hariri's assassination," he added, seeking to explain his point of view.
"Bellemare preferred to abide by the law by allowing a temporary release of the generals," Geagea went on to claim, giving himself the right to describe the release of the four Generals after a lengthy and arbitrary detention as a "temporary" one.
The LF chief then decided to respond to what he called the opposition's "campaign" against the Lebanese judiciary. "It has become obvious that March 8 is waging a rigorous campaign against the Lebanese judiciary on the one hand and against the international tribunal on the other," he claimed.
While admitting that the Lebanese judiciary was not that "perfect" and recalling that "thousands of unjust and unfounded verdicts were issued against the Lebanese by their judiciary," Geagea refused to provide the opposition with the right he has given to himself. "March 8 is the last party to have a right to speak about the judiciary," he claimed too simply.
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