“Lebanon Debate”
Today, the judicial arena is preparing for one of the most controversial files in Lebanon, with the Criminal Court session in Beirut holding its ruling in the case of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Assir and the artist Fadel Shaker, who are accused of attempting to kill the official of the “Resistance Brigades” in Sidon, Hilal Hammoud, in 2013.
In this context, the legal representative of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Assir, lawyer Muhammad Sablouh, confirmed in an interview with “Lebanon Debate” that today is a turning point in the history of the judiciary, describing this lawsuit, which has occupied the judiciary and security forces for ten years, as a “farce.”
He stresses that this lawsuit is empty in content, and confirms, in his opinion, that the judiciary and security were bound by “chains of de facto forces,” as he put it, noting that “the Criminal Court today is sufficient to show whether the judiciary has been liberated from these forces.”
He added: “We are awaiting the ruling today, as the interrogations were clear, and the investigations proved that the security services did not carry out their duties in the investigation, and as we know that the plaintiff, Hilal Hammoud, was handcuffed as a defendant at the beginning of the case, and suddenly things turned from a defendant to a plaintiff,” pointing out that “there were people who were exposed to fire from the direction of Hammoud’s house, and he was not charged by the Public Prosecution, and he admitted that Hezbollah asked him to make a claim, and specified for him the names that would be included in the case.” The claim, which will be withdrawn later.”
Sablouh continues: “The scandal was that everyone whose name was withdrawn from the prosecution at the beginning of this case was later released from the crime by a judicial decision, and this confirms what we say that the judiciary was bound by the chains of Hezbollah and the de facto forces.”
In light of this scene, the question remains open as to whether the upcoming ruling will constitute a final conclusion to this file, or will keep it within the circle of judicial and media interaction.
