Abu Rizk fine if found guilty in minor case
Lebanon, Politics, 7/16/1997

Elias Abu Rizk and Yasser Naameh were charged on July 14 with defaming the Lebanese state, an action that their lawyer called a "minor case."

According to article 297 of the penal code, the president and general secretary of a rival wing of the General Labor Confederation (GLC) face a minimum punishment of six months imprisonment, while judge Said Mirza asked that they pay a fine if convicted.

Mirza issued an indictment after an investigation concerning two letters, bearing the two men's signatures, sent to Michel Hansen of the International Labor Organization in Geneva.

The letters, one in French and the other in English, spoke of "the Lebanese government attempting through various means to control the labor movement."

They mentioned disputed labor elections in Sidon, on April 13, and Beirut on April 24, when a rival body to Abu Rizk's GLC executive committee was elected, under the leadership of Ghanime Zoghbi.

A threat of "physical liquidation" was also mentioned in the communications, while Mirza maintained in his indictment that Abu Rizk and Naameh had failed to present any evidence of this accusation.

Under questioning, Abu Rizk identified other unionists and the media and the source of his information about the alleged threats.

Asked about his charge that government officials were squandering government funds to pay unionists to vote for his rival Zoghbi, Abu Rizk claimed that the French translation contained a mistaken meaning, as he wished to indicate that "money in the general sense" was being spent.

As for his failure to present an official complaint about threats of violence, Abu Rizk said that his lawyer, Naji Boustany, had advised him not to do so.

Boustany said that the July 14 charges are a "minor case." He stated that during an investigation ten weeks earlier into charges of usurping authority and misrepresentation, the prosecution was unable to find the evidence necessary to proceed with the case.

"Since the prosecution had no ground to stand on during that investigation, they found this letter about union elections in South Lebanon," Boustany said. "This is a minor case to squeeze my clients because they didn't find what they needed."

The lawyer for the two men said he felt that nothing should come of the new charges, especially "since people are saying things on a daily basis that are 100 times worse, whether in Lebanon or outside Lebanon."

Charges over the usurping authority and misrepresentation offenses, which carry penalties of seven years, and two months to two years imprisonment, respectively, remain pending.

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search