Lebanon's BDL Governor Riad Salameh evades court appearance in Paris

Judicially, on the night of his supposed appearance before the French judiciary on Tuesday, the Governor of Banque du Liban (BDL), Riad Salameh, has not been officially notified of the decision for his appearance.

Consequently, this means his absence from the interrogation session regarding money laundering and embezzlement.

According to a prominent judicial official who spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP), a security patrol was dispatched to the BDL building last week for four consecutive days to notify Salameh of the scheduled interrogation session with French judge Aude Buresi in Paris.

However, they did not find him.

The judicial official added that every time the patrol went to notify Salameh, the bank's security officer would inform them that the governor did not attend due to security reasons and that he had an external meeting outside the bank's premises, or that he was present but had left just a while ago.

After the failure to notify Salameh, the investigating judge in Beirut, Charbel Abou Samra, will contact the French judge to inform her of this situation, enabling her to make an appropriate decision based on the circumstances, according to AFP.