Report: Mezher Refuses to Appear before Judicial Inspection

Acting head of the Civil Court of Appeals Judge Habib Mezher has refused to appear before inspection, al-Anbaa newspaper said.

Judicial sources told the Kuwaiti newspaper, in remarks published Friday, that Mezher “cannot give information about a case that he was looking into."

The sources added that Mezher also refused to appear before the inspection commission because the summoning is “selective” and “singled him out among other judges with similar lawsuits filed against them.”

The legal department of “The People Want Reform of the System” group had filed a disciplinary complaint against Mezher before the Judicial Inspection Authority, requesting to refer him to the Disciplinary Commission and to immediately suspend him from work and suspend his membership in the Higher Judicial Council until a disciplinary decision is issued.

The complaint also requested from the Public Prosecution to start an immediate judicial investigation with Mezher for the two crimes of “moral forgery” and “attempt to breach the confidentiality of a criminal investigation.”

Mezher had sparked controversy after he started looking into the case against Beirut Port Blast lead investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, with the Court of Appeals announcing that he had been “exclusively” tasked with handling a recusal lawsuit against Court of Appeals judge Nassib Elia.

Mezher was later summoned by Court of Appeals chief Judge Habib Rizkallah who notified him of his recusal in the case against Bitar, telling him that he “exceeded his jurisdiction.”

The recusal request had been filed by the lawyer Rami Ollaiq of the Muttahidoun activist group along with Ziad Risha.