The first military investigating judge, Ghada Bou Alwan, issued a pre-trial arrest warrant against the Lebanese Rabih Al-Tawil, after interrogating him for hours against the backdrop of the Military Public Prosecution’s allegation against him of a misdemeanor offense under Article 72 of the Arms Law, in a file linked to a French Interpol memo talking about a network in France that exports equipment used in the manufacture of drones.
The arrest decision came after an interrogation session accompanied by a number of lawyers, and attended by Al-Taweel’s representative, lawyer Ahmed Jaber, at the conclusion of which he requested the release of his client based on Article 113 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which stipulates the possibility of releasing a defendant charged with a misdemeanor five days after his arrest.
During his interrogation, Al-Taweel denied any connection to the content of the French judicial mandate, repeating his previous statements that he was importing “toys” for a person he knew as “Abu Hadi” or “Abu Al-Rida,” indicating that he had previously imported three shipments for the latter and for a store he owned.
As part of following up on the file, Judge Bou Alwan decided to summon Rabih Nour El-Din, against whom the Military Public Prosecution had charged in the same case, noting that information indicates that he is detained in France alongside a German citizen subject to French delegation.
The French judicial mandate includes a request to extradite Al-Tawil to be tried on French territory, but Lebanese law prohibits the extradition of Lebanese citizens to another country.
