Heavy Gunfire on Home of Witness in 1999 Killing of 4 Judges

Lawyer Salem Salim and his family escaped unscathed after coming under heavy machine gunfire in their house near the southern port city of Sidon, the lawyer told An Nahar daily published Wednesday.

Salim is a key witness in the assassination of the four judges on June 8, 1999 inside the South Lebanon Criminal Court at the old Justice Palace in Sidon. He had suffered severe injuries.

Judges Hassan Uthman, Walid Harmoush, Assem Bou Daher and Imad Shehab were attending a session during the trial of two Iraqis and a Palestinian when two individuals opened fire through the rear window of the courtroom, killing them and wounding five others.

Salim told An Nahar that around 3:30 am Tuesday, he woke up along with his wife and two daughters from the sound of heavy machine gunfire and bullets raining on his house in Dhour al-Sarafand.

“No one was hurt and there was only material damage,” he said, adding that 27 bullets had hit the house and its fence.

He described the incident as an attempted murder rather than just a move to scare him. But the lawyer refused to accuse any side saying he would wait for the results of the investigation. (Photo courtesy of al-Mustaqbal daily)