The governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon ignores the summons of the French justice

Bank of Lebanon Governor Riad Salamé in Beirut on December 20, 2021 (illustration image). © JOSEPH EID/AFP

Text by: Nicolas Falez Follow

2 min

Riad Salame's lawyer confirmed to RFI that he would not go to the office of the French judge who summoned him on Tuesday. In office for 30 years, the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon is cited in several investigations, in Lebanon and in Europe, suspected of having embezzled funds with which he was able to build up an impressive financial and real estate capital.

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The empty chair for strategy: Riad Salamé's lawyer confirms that his client remained in Beirut while the French justice had summoned him to Paris on Tuesday, May 16. In a letter addressed to the French judge Aude Buresi, Pierre-Olivier Sur disputes the conditions under which the summons was delivered to the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon: "It is certain that Riad Salamé was not regularly summoned," explains the lawyer, citing the deadlines provided for by the procedure. His client is suspected of having built up a rich real estate and banking heritage in Europe through a complex financial arrangement and a massive embezzlement of Lebanese public funds.

Contacted by RFI, Me Sur says that his Riad Salamé remains ready to explain himself before the French justice. Arguments that make the plaintiffs jump in this case. "If he had the will to come, he would get on a plane and go to the judge's office," said William Bourdon, president and founder of the NGO Sherpa, active in cases of ill-gotten gains, reached on Tuesday. He shies away, the cynicism and cowardice of this man are equal to his diversions. And to add: "I think of the Lebanese people who endure absolutely extraordinary suffering" due in particular to "the actions of a man absolutely pivotal in the mafia predation to which Lebanon has been subjected."

Still in office

It is an indictment that awaited Riad Salamé this Tuesday, May 16 in Paris, where he was summoned by the judge who has visited Beirut several times in recent months, as part of a joint trip with his German and Luxembourg counterparts. What can happen now? The French judiciary may decide to issue an international arrest warrant. Riad Salamé's French lawyer disputes it in advance: "It would not meet the procedural requirements whose interpretation must be all the more rigorous as it concerns the freedom to come and go," says Pierre-Olivier Sur.

Seizures have already been made on real estate belonging to Riad Salamé and his relatives. In a few weeks, his fifth term as governor at the head of the Central Bank of Lebanon ends. A position that he has been able to keep until today despite the suspicions and criticisms that make him one of the responsible for the economic hell that his country is experiencing.

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Read on on the same topics:

  • Lebanon
  • France
  • Justice
  • Corruption
  • Economic crisis