Hill Supports Hariri: Use Election Concern to Form Government | Al-Tanbila judges cling to torture

The Law for the Promotion of Fundamental Guarantees and Protection of Defense Rights, issued on October 16, 2020, escaped pressure from the security services, refusing to stop torturing detainees. The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, published the law approved by the Chamber of Deputies at the end of last September, and now the security services are prohibited from questioning any detainee except in the presence of a lawyer, as long as the investigations are recorded. in audio and video, under the threat of annulling the preliminary inquiries and detaining the investigator, if he does not respect the guarantees of the detainees. Even if he was a judge of the Public Ministry.

Although the law does not offer comprehensive guarantees for detainees, it reduces the ability of interrogators to practice torture as approved by “official means” by the majority of interrogators, with the knowledge and consent of the bulk of judges and, in occasions, at your request. The security services oppose the law, because it deprives them of what they consider to be the easiest and most reliable means of obtaining confessions from detainees. It also forces them to develop their investigative capacities, both technologically and in terms of their human resources. However, it is “surprising” that a large number of judges believe that the law will hamper the work of prosecutors and investigating judges, as well as the judiciary. This law would make any prosecutor really responsible for the investigation, as required by law.

In addition, the judge must also develop his investigative capacities, as well as the security services, since the investigator’s call to the judge can no longer end with the phrase “rude to him”, but the judge is obliged to propose new working methods to solve crimes that investigators must work according to their instructions during the investigation. . For these reasons, several judges have appealed, specifically those who wish to continue “vocalizing” and who insist on not making any effort in their work beyond receiving a phone call from the security forces that are investigating. The mobilized judges began to incite us to sign a petition, to present it to the President of the Republic, and to ask him to challenge the new law before the Constitutional Council. According to judicial sources, about 150 judges expressed their agreement to sign the petition, noting that one of the main prosecutors alleged to his colleagues that Aoun would challenge the law if he received a petition signed by at least 100 judges.
In the context of the deliberations on the reasons for the appeal (some of these deliberations are carried out by a special group of judges on the application of “WhatsApp”), information is circulated indicating that the law under appeal violated the laws in terms of not consulting the Supreme Council of the Judiciary before its issuance, based on the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Council in its decision No. 23 of 2019, in which it emphasized the need to seek the opinion of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary on the legislation related to the judicial authority. However, according to a legal expert, “this pretext is abandoned when we know that the bill has already been presented to the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, but the latter did not interact positively or negatively with it.” However, some judges seem enthusiastic about squandering the guarantees of detainees, most of whom belong to the most vulnerable groups in society, in a repeat of the scandal of reconsidering the Criminal Procedure Code twenty years ago, when the security services they imposed, by the force of the Syrian authority, the reform of the law in his case.

Hill supports Hariri
On the other hand, Lebanon, like other countries in the region, entered the American electoral period, when everything is calculated according to the scale of the polls in the United States. In this context, visitors to the US capital reported that US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale expressed his country’s support for Saad Hariri’s assumption of the post of prime minister, and his understanding of the political contacts it makes as part of the formation of the government. Hill said that his ministry is working today according to a policy of closely monitoring the Lebanese file, but that no one else in the administration cares today about what is happening in Lebanon. The visitors said Hill intended that the Lebanese could tap into the concern of the rest of US decision-making circles with the elections to make workable arrangements. They said Hill was adamant about the financial record, saying, “There is no framework for action outside of the IMF program.”

Judges organize a petition to challenge the law that strengthens the guarantees of detainees that mitigate torture

At the local level, the permanent leaks coming out of the home of the president-designate in Wadi Abu Jameel, spread an optimism that, according to insiders, is based on his sessions with the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun. Sources underestimate this climate, especially since the basic knot that Hariri must overcome is not resolved with meetings with Aoun, but with the head of the “strong Lebanon” bloc, deputy Gebran Bassil. However, sources from the Free Patriotic Movement indicated that the movement’s “dilemma” could be overcome with the participation of the president, while sources on March 8 deny it, confirming that the fact that Hariri does not agree with Bassil’s opinion it will impede the formation of the government.
Leading political sources consider that “regardless of the implicit agreement between Hariri and the Shiite duo on facilitation, and the most important thing in it is the appointment of specialized ministers,” what will take place in the next few days will be enough to show whether there is another contract or not. While the duo, specifically Hezbollah, confirm that “Hariri has not yet contacted him, and that the party is awaiting the results of the consultations with Aoun and the agreement with Basil,” one of the indications of silent discrepancies remains. quoted by the head of the Socialist Party, former MP Walid Jumblatt, who “raised The Scream” Yesterday, an expression of his dissatisfaction with Aoun’s meetings with Representative Talal Arslan and the leader of the Arab Tawhid Party, Wiam Wahhab. Jumblatt, who was promised the “Health” and “Social Affairs” portfolios, curses behind these meetings “he tries to share the Druze part between himself and Arslan”, according to his relatives, noting that “Arslan has no right to a wallet in the twentieth government ”. Jumblatt became more tense with information that spoke of Hariri’s insistence on obtaining the Ministry of Health!

Jumblatt is upset about the meeting between Aoun and Arslan … and Hariri wants “cheers”

Just before Hariri went to Baabda last night, where there was a meeting, the Republican Palace declared that “a completion of the study of the government file in an atmosphere of progress and deliberation,” the office of the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri , he quoted him saying that “the next government can see the light in four or five days if the atmosphere remained positive, as it is currently.” The meeting between Aoun and Hariri, which lasted about 45 minutes, did not come out of any data, as they insist on “keeping the deliberations secret”, according to Baabda sources, whose affirmation was limited to that “the debate has reached the stage of distribution of bags.” In the evening, Hariri issued a statement denying everything reported in the media on government inquiries.