Imad Uthman rebels again. His steps only mean a further dissolution of state institutions

Radwan Mortada –

A new circular signed by the Director General of the Internal Security Forces, Major General Imad Othman, approved by the judiciary, opens the door to new immunities. The judiciary can no longer summon any retired official except through the leadership of the Directorate!

The Director General of the Internal Security Forces, Major General Imad Othman, has been active in recent weeks in issuing memos and circulars that appear to be seeking the independence of the judiciary or rebellion against it. It is as if the Security Directorate were an independent island with an autonomous government that it leads as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

It is as if the country were doing a thousand good works so that man would “cover” man in Law No. 17 on the Organization of the Security Forces, or to assign officers to prepare legal studies in the midst of the frenzied confrontation between the judiciary and security. Although Major General Othman is “satisfied” with what he considers a public harvest, as he has become a defendant of Judge Aounista Ghada Aoun in the ongoing political battle, Osman’s steps only mean further dissolution of state institutions.

New creations of the Director General of the Security Forces and Bodies, a correspondence addressed to the Public Ministry of Discrimination, in which he requested to circulate to the Public Ministry to summon retired officers through the leaders of their agencies exclusively! Othman does not like to be surpassed as leader of the security forces, not even by the judiciary. You want to tighten your control over your board members who are on active duty, as well as retirees. After circulating to the officers that “we are not secretaries of the judges,” they are prohibited from responding to requests from the prosecutors to assist them in investigations, hitting at the expense of the law that considers the security forces as a Judicial officer who assists public prosecutors, Othman justifies his new request that retired officers remain in reserve for a period of time after retirement, and remain directly linked to the security apparatus to which they belonged.

Othman said that based on the aforementioned reasons, and so that the competent military and security leaders can see and learn, the circular suggested to the Public Ministry that the summons be made through the Al Udeid Division of the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces or the command of the apparatus to which the corresponding officer belongs.

The Public Ministry of Cassation responded to Othman’s request, and circulated his letter to the Public Ministry, noting that judicial sources confirmed that there is confusion related to the interpretation of the request, revealing that an explanatory circular will be issued soon to clarify the confusion, given that this does not necessarily mean that notification to retirees is done exclusively through the Security Administration. To which they belong.

Sources revealed that the issue was raised with the notification of the former army chief, Jean Kahwaji, noting that the situation in the army is not similar. Military sources told Al-Akhbar that judicial notification is made through the army leadership on files that affect the officer or the army during his royal service. However, if the summons has nothing to do with your military duties, the service is made directly.

The prosecutor approved Othman’s request and distributed it to the prosecution!

Even this separation between two types of prosecutions is unpleasant for the Judicial Power, since judicial sources see this step as a tribal tension, it is surprising that the Judicial Power cannot summon any retiree except through its Directorate.

This is how Othman’s exploits stack up. It is a heresy in legal clothing that circulates without control or supervision. And the Ministry of the Interior does not lift a finger at the Major General. After declaring his open rebellion that he would not submit to his duties stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code to assist the Public Ministry in its investigations, and before he issued a “militia order” to the security guards allowing them to detain any suspect without a judicial order , here is your new application that grants immunity to officers. Retired. By reporting exclusively through the address, this address grants the right not to inform whoever wants, in a way that hinders the judicial process, with a security decision. Rather than seek to reduce immunities that include employees and various union members, parliamentarians and ministers, the director general of a security apparatus invents a new “quasi-immunity” that reinforces injustice in the Lebanese judicial system.