2023-05-19 19:23:15
His mandate at the head of the Central Bank of Lebanon expires on July 31, but Riad Salamé does not seem ready to let go of his post, despite the issuance of an international arrest warrant on Tuesday May 16 by the investigating judge. French Aude Buresi, accompanied Thursday, May 18 by a red notice from Interpol.
The magistrate decided to raise her voice in the face of the Lebanese’s refusal to appear for a hearing at the Paris court. She has been waiting for answers, since the opening of a judicial investigation in July 2021, to investigate her European real estate and banking assets, which she is suspected of having constituted through a complex financial arrangement and the embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars. from Lebanese public funds.
Imperturbable and menacing
Despite this legal warning shot, the 72-year-old man who has presided over the country’s banking destinies since 1993 remains straight in his boots. After announcing that he would appeal the decision, he insisted on having “clear conscience” in an interview given on May 18 to the Saudi channel al-Hadath. And announced that he would only resign “if a judgment proving (that he is) guilty is pronounced”.
Lebanon is locked in an economic and financial crisis that has brought more than 80% of the population below the poverty line since 2019. The local currency has depreciated by 98% against the dollar. In the country, we therefore follow this judicial soap opera with attention. But also with caution. Since May 16, Lebanese officials have been eerily silent on the Salamé case, whose inextricable ties to the ruling class are notorious.
The governor did not go there four ways, during his interview. “I advise the judiciary to start with the politicians and not with the governor”he said. “A way to get the message across and tell them, if I fall, everyone else falls”comments the lawyer Karim Daher, at the forefront of anti-corruption cases.
Rare dissonant voice, that of outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Saadé Chami, in charge of discussions between Lebanon and the IMF, who underlined Thursday in an interview with the Associated Press that the suspicions weighing on the governor “could threaten Lebanon’s financial relations with the rest of the world”judging “better that he resign”.
The silent executive
A concern shared by Karim Daher. “If the interim government of Nagib Mikati does not act, it will affect Lebanon’s image on the international financial level, whether it concerns relations with the World Bank, with the IMF or with the correspondent banks. How can they agree to deal with someone who is under an arrest warrant? »asks the lawyer, recalling that Riad Salamé has so far kept control of the Banque du Liban, but also of the control and regulatory authorities, in particular against money laundering or the financial markets.
Riad Salamé now being targeted by an Interpol red notice requesting his arrest to be handed over to the French authorities, what will Lebanon do? Beirut does not extradite its nationals, as shown by the previous Carlos Ghosn during his flight from Japan to Lebanon at the end of 2019. Lebanese justice could then prosecute the governor on the spot, if it considers that the accusations are well founded.
Monday, May 22, the outgoing government of Nagib Mikati should finally address the Salamé case during a consultative meeting. To dismiss him from office? “It would send an important and strong message that there is no more impunity, hopes Karim Daher, without believing it too much. Otherwise, Lebanon is headed for the abyss. »
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