Middle East Intelligence Bulletin
Jointly published by the United States Committee for a Free Lebanon and the Middle East Forum
  Vol. 2   No. 4

April 2000 


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Authorities Go After Mugraby . . . Again

Muhamad Mugraby
Muhamad Mugraby
According to Lebanese press reports, judicial authorities are preparing to indict Dr. Muhamad Mugraby, a prominent Columbia-educated human rights attorney, on charges of "defaming" the Lebanese judicial system. The possible prosecution of Mugraby, who is best known for his work on behalf of Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons and dispossessed property owners, is seen by many as an attempt to intimidate and silence all Lebanese human rights activists.

    The most recent government campaign to silence Mugraby came in reaction to an April 19 press conference he gave on the "integrity crisis" in Lebanon's judicial system. Mugraby made a number of allegations, backed by documentary evidence, which implicated high-ranking judicial officials. One typical case involved a senior judge who obtained an exemption, issued by another judge, from paying transfer taxes on a recent real estate purchase. Another high-ranking judge, who had been appointed caretaker of certain properties owned by a distant relative who had emigrated to Brazil, received the authority to transfer ownership of the property to his daughter. Mugraby then called for the resignation of Justice Minister Joseph Shawool "for failing to advance and implement new policies aimed at restoring the independence and integrity of the justice system."

    Rather than investigate the matters disclosed by Mugraby, judicial officials apparently decided to indict him for "defaming" the judiciary. A few days after the press conference, several local newspapers published unsourced reports indicating that the Higher Judicial Council had referred a transcript of the press conference to the office of the prosecutor general. On April 28, 2000, the Lebanese press reported that Beirut prosecutor Joseph Mamari (one of the officials implicated by Mugraby) had filed charges against him after concluding that he had been "caught in the act" of defaming the judicial system. "I telephoned Mamari and he confirmed the story but refused to disclose the substance of the alleged crime or the referenced article in the penal code," said Mugraby in a statement to MEIB a few days later.

    According to Article 79 of the Legal Profession Code, the indictment of an attorney requires prior authorization from Council of the Bar Association. This requirement has been the main obstacle preventing the prosecution of Mugraby in the past. Judicial officials had submitted requests for Mugraby's prosecution on three previous occasions (the most infamous was in response to a fax Mugraby sent to Amnesty International detailing the torture of two men and three women by Lebanese investigators). Each time, international human rights organizations rallied to support Mugraby and the requests were denied--all three rejections were later appealed by prosecutors (one of the appeals has been dismissed, the others are still pending).

    According to the press reports, this time Mamari is preparing to indict Mugraby without first seeking the authorization from the Bar Association, arguing that his statements at the press conference were directly witnessed. This led six Lebanese human rights groups to release a joint statement "denouncing the prosecution or the likelihood of prosecution of Dr. Muhamad Mugraby, as it aims to curtail the liberty of one of the active defenders of human rights." The letter added that "the assembled NGOs are of the opinion that acts relative to the right of expression which are published by any means may not be treated as witnessed crimes."1 Since the issue of Mugraby's prosecution will likely set an important precedent, other human rights attorneys and activists have launched a campaign to publicize the case.

  1 The Lebanese Association for Human Rights; Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme, Liban; The Association for the defense of Rights and Liberties (ADL), The Movement for People's Rights, MIRSAD, and The Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights.

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