Justice Minister calls for lifting immunity off Merhebi

The parliament’s general secretariat received on Thursday a letter from the justice minister calling for lifting immunity off MP Mouin Merhebi.           

The letter included a memorandum from the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, in which the type, the time and the place of the offense committed are mentioned, as well as a summary of the evidence that requires urgent action. This step was made in accordance with the provisions of article 19 of the internal parliamentary regulations.           

The second step regarding the procedure will be a call made by Speaker Nabih Berri on the Parliament's Bureau Committee and the Administration and Justice Committee to hold a joint session to discuss the request. The committees will issue a report within two weeks, according to the provisions of the article 92 of internal regulations. In case the report was not issued within the aforementioned deadline, the speaker must inform the parliament of this fact in the first session to be held, where the members will decide whether to grant the committee additional time, or to take the request and take direct action.In those regards, parliament must hold discussions until a final decision is reached according to the provisions of article 94. The final decision should then be approved by the relative majority in accordance with article 34 of the Constitution. In case a tie is reached, the request falls.           

In this context, Merhebi told LBCI “we are ready for accountability and we hope that it will involve all figures from the top of the pyramid to the base”.               

Accordingly, MP Ahmad Fatfat expressed his surprise toward the practices of Justice Minister, noting that while the judiciary was reluctant in issuing a legal warrant against Syrian Major General Ali Mamlouk in the case of importing terrorism into Lebanon through former Minister Michal Samaha, Justice Minister referred the request to lift the immunity off MP Mouin Merhebi to the parliament’s general secretariat.