The disciplinary authority of the Lebanese court withdrew one of the judges who sought charges against the central bank governor and commercial banks in Lebanon on Thursday.
Lebanon’s financial authorities have been the target of several probes both at home and abroad as a result of decades of excessive expenditure and bad management.
The disciplinary board has accused Judge Ghada Aoun of bias for investigating banking sector operations and the corruption of prominent Lebanese politicians.
“They are punishing me for doing my job,” Aoun said reporters as she departed a council meeting when she was informed of the council’s plan to remove her.
Aoun said that the claims of bias against her stemmed from her criticism of corrupt government leaders. She indicated that she had filed an appeal and that she could continue working legally while awaiting the verdict.
After multiple complaints were submitted against her about her investigations, the council decided unanimously to fire her.
Her probe into commercial banks was cut short earlier this year after Lebanon’s prime minister and interior ministry accused her of “overstepping authority” by accusing two banks with money laundering.
Last year, Aoun charged central bank governor Riad Salameh with illicit enrichment in a case linked to bigger corruption investigations in Lebanon and at least five European countries. Salameh was then charged of unlawfully enriching himself by another Lebanese court.
Nizar Saghieh of Legal Agenda termed Thursday’s decision a “heartbreaking message to a judge who tried to take on major criminals.”
