Kahwagi and its corners on the pier

Radwan Mortada –

In the context of the trial of those involved in taking bribes to admit cadets to the military academy, the head of the military court, Brigadier General Munir Shehadeh, summoned both former army chief Jean Kahwaji and his office manager, General of Brigade Muhammad al-Husseini, former intelligence director Kamil Daher, former Republican Guard commander of the Wadriih al-Ghadeh committee The War College examiner at the time, Fadi Abu Farraj, the Director General of Public Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, and the Chief of the High Relief Commission, Major General Muhammad Khair, were witnesses, at the request of the Military Prosecutor, Judge Hani Helmy Al-Hajjar.

A “runner” appeared before the president of the Military Tribunal, Brigadier General Munir Shehadeh, to confront the former general security officer, Major Ahmed El-Gamal, who had received $ 150,000 from him in exchange for ensuring that one of the applicants passed the officer exams at the War College. The “runner” determined the exact time and place, saying that he delivered the denounced camel in a blue bag inside a military vehicle belonging to General Security. He mentioned that the camel counted it in cash before leaving. There was a verbal scapegoat between the officer and the intermediary and the families of the Military College applicants, before Brigadier General Shehadeh interrupted their dispute with a direct question addressed to Major Al-Gamal: Is it true that you received this amount of it? Answer yes or no! Dodge sentences without giving a clear answer. Sometimes he spoke of his work as a public security consultant in the CEO’s office, and other times of his work with Minister Nihad Al-Machnouk, but without responding directly.

The brigadier general surrounded him forcing him to answer yes or no. However, the representative of the Public Ministry, Judge Hani Helmy Al-Hajjar, came on the line saying: Why don’t we bring the adults instead of holding the children accountable? Noting that Al-Hajjar was the judge who signed the “first reading” of this file, requesting that the defendants who were suspected of being involved and receiving bribes be charged, without further investigation, he or his colleague Alaa Al -Khatib issued the indictment. The two judges, Al-Hajjar and Al-Khatib, are affiliated with the Movement of the Future. His lack of expansion in the investigation at the time was due to the fact that Al-Jamal was also considered one of the affiliates of the Movement of the Future, in light of an effort to roll up the archive. Today, Al-Hajjar’s request to question current and former senior officers is seen as a direction by the Future Movement to expand the archive in order to protect the camel, the retired senior who was hired in Public Security during the it was from Major General Abbas Ibrahim, based on a written request from the Interior Ministry during the era of Minister Nihad Al-Machnouk. By removing the bank secrecy from his accounts, he proved that there was more than two million dollars in his account, since he used to deposit funds in the bank in payments of less than 9 thousand dollars, so that they would not ask him about the origin of the money.

Thus, Judge Al-Hajjar requested in the session held last September to summon the security leaders, requesting the president of the Military Court to record his request to summon the former army chief Jean Kahwaji and the manager of his office, Brigadier General Muhammad al-Husseini, former intelligence director Kamil Daher, former Republican Guard commander Wadih al-Ghafri and the head of the examining committee The War College at the time, Fadi Abu Farraj, the director General of Public Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, and the head of the High Relief Commission, Major General Muhammad Khair.

Judge al-Hajjar named the officers the names of the officers, seeking a “sectarian balance.” On that day, the president of the court responded to the military attorney general that the court would study the request before responding. This coincided with the launch of a media campaign directed at the officers of the former military leadership, where the so-called “real estate wealth” of several of them was published. Security sources attributed the leakage of this information to the Commander of the Armed Forces, Joseph Aoun, who was enthusiastic from the beginning of his mandate by this accountability that was postponed according to a political agreement.

In the file of the “war college scandal”, the army commander left the matter in the hands of the superior judge, who informed the Military Prosecutor of his decision to approve the summons. However, the sources reveal that not all the agents were informed of the summons to attend the session as witnesses. Al-Akhbar learned that Major General Ibrahim was among those who were not informed of the date of the session, but he knew it, considering that the main detainee in the file was a retired officer who had hired General Security at the suggestion of the Minister of the Interior at that time.

It should be noted that the record of the war college scandal came to light with the arrest of a retired General Security officer and six civilians for the crime of taking tens of thousands of dollars from people in exchange for ensuring the recruitment of officers in the War College. The facts, years ago, demonstrated that the defendants, parents Ahmed F. AND Hussam Z. AND Hussein S. After paying large sums of money to the defendants, the retired Major General of Public Security, Ahmed Al-Jamal and Rabih Shuaib, they helped take their children to the Military Academy in the 2016 session.

Despite the slowness of the file, the trial still continues. However, the prized capture did not come except by an officer with the rank of major and a runner and some officers. Today’s attention is directed to the session that will take place in the Military Court on the fourteenth of this month, so the summons of the President of the Military Court for these officers opened the door to a further investigation of a corruption case, on all because this can allow access to a greater number of stakeholders. However, the sources spoke about the fear in the military court that some of the subpoenas would not respond, especially General Kahwagi, who apparently received the advice of a religious authority not to appear before the military court.

Sources explained that the aforementioned religious authority is Bkerke, and that Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai had asked the current army commander, General Joseph Aoun, not to persecute Qahwaji, “under the pretext of having a record in the main Maronite sites, such as the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh “. The sources noted that President General Michel Aoun insisted on persecuting everyone without exception, and that Hezbollah and the Amal movement informed those who reviewed them that they do not oppose the trial of all without exception, and that they will not oppose any prosecution. The fear of the military court came about because in the event that General Kahwaji did not appear in court and sought refuge in religious authority, others would act like him. Therefore, it will be difficult to launch a test.

The prosecution of 8 officers … including the former army commander

The Prosecutor’s Office Against Discrimination and Beirut’s first investigating judge, Acting Judge Charbel Abu Samra, charged eight commanding officers under the Illicit Enrichment Act, in a separate file from the War College corruption file. The officers charged are former army commander Jean Kahwaji, the director of his office, Brigadier General Muhammad al-Husseini, former intelligence directors Kamil Daher and Edmond Fadel, the former head of the Beirut intelligence branch, the Brigadier General George Khamis, the head of the Northern Intelligence Branch, Brigadier General Amer al-Hassan, Major General Abdul Rahman, Shehitli’s senior retiree, and General Ahmed Al-Jamal. This allegation was based on accusations against the officers that were mentioned in media reports, in addition to what was mentioned by former Minister Wiam Wahhab in a television interview, referring to bank accounts worth millions of dollars. The prosecution also relied on a report submitted by lawyer Wadih Aql, who included information on the corruption in which the aforementioned were involved.