Three Lebanese officials could face trial for corruption after prosecutor files lawsuits

Several top Lebanese officials could face trial for corruption as anti-government protests that began more than a month ago have increased pressure on the judiciary to take action.

On Wednesday, financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim filed lawsuits against caretaker Information Minister Jamal Jarrah and former telecoms ministers Nicolas Sehnaoui and Boutros Harb.

“People are not benefiting from the sectarian patronage system any more. As a result, the public’s interest in corruption cases has increased, despite them being sometimes several years old,” Riad Kobaissi, head of Lebanese TV station Al Jadeed’s investigative unit, told The National.

On Thursday, Mr Jarrah accused Mr Ibrahim of leaking news of the cases to the media in a “wrongful manner” but said he would co-operate fully with the investigation.

Mr Sehnaoui said he was “ready to appear before the competent judicial authority with full confidence in that this would prove there is no flaw in my record as a public servant”.

Protesters blame politicians for bringing the economy to the brink of collapse.

President Michel Aoun has promised to fight corruption, saying that 17 corruption files were referred to the judiciary, without giving further details.

But Mr Kobaissi said top officials had rarely been jailed in the past because the judiciary was subject to pressure from politicians.

Mr Ibrahim has said he was aware of corruption issues. In February last year, he told The

Daily Star that corruption in the property sector cost Lebanon up to $40 million (Dh146.9m) a year.

At the time, he blamed government bodies for not cooperating to fight corruption.

Officials suspected of corruption have responded by launching defamation actions against investigative journalists such as Mr Kobaissi, as highlighted by a Human Rights Watch report this month.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned on October 29, abolished the anticorruption ministry in his latest government and said parliament was working on a new anti-corruption law.

But he also said Lebanon did not follow many of its own regulations.

“The problem here is that we create bodies without activating them,” he said.