Madi Awaiting to Review Syrian Lawsuit before Requesting to Lift Immunity of MP Saqr

General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi stressed on Monday that the judiciary is awaiting Lebanese lawyer Rashad Salameh to file a lawsuit against al-Mustaqbal lawmaker MP Oqab Saqr to tackle the issue, voicing his rejection to look into the matter ahead of any action by the lawyer.

“We will take the necessary measures when the lawyer files the alleged lawsuit,” Madi said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

Judicial sources told the daily that the general prosecutor can't legally task the competent judiciary apparatus to investigate the matter before he studies the lawsuit.

“Should he decide to refer the lawsuit, he will have to ask the parliament to lift the immunity of MP Saqr through a request submitted to Justice Minister (Shakib Qortbawi),” the sources said.

Salameh said on Monday that he will file the lawsuit against Saqr on Tuesday or Wednesday maximum, the state-run National News Agency reported.

On Friday, the lawyer said that he will limit the Syrian lawsuit against those who are allegedly involved in arming the Syrian opposition to MP Saqr only if he was proven guilty in the case.

Salameh said that he is waiting for the stance of Madi, who requested the recordings of interviews and a press conference conducted by Saqr in recent weeks and tasked the Central Criminal Investigations Bureau with examining audio recordings implicating him in the transfer of arms to Syria.

Syrian authorities issued last week arrest warrants against Hariri, Saqr and Free Syrian Army member Louay al-Meqdad on charges of “arming and financing terrorist groups in Syria.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said over the weekend that the Syrian arrest warrants against Hariri and Saqr are politically motivated and legally void.

Media reports said that the Interpol will not deal with the warrants against Hariri, Saqr and al-Meqdad in line with its constitution and rules.

Saqr described the Interpol's announcement as a “heavy blow” to President Bashar Assad and his regime.