General Prosecutor Demands Lifting MP Harb's Immunity
General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi demanded on Monday to strip MP Butros Harb of his parliamentary immunity over remarks he made on the judiciary and President Michel Suleiman after Mahmoud Hayek was charged with the attempt on his life.
The state-run National News Agency reported that Madi handed over to Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi a request to refer a demand to the parliament to lift immunity off Harb in order for him to be prosecuted over insulting the president and accusing the judiciary of plotting a conspiracy against him.
“It is ironic that a judge would allow himself to request my prosecution,” Harb said later in comments to MTV channel.
The March 14 MP revealed over the weekend that several judges were holding deals with officials in an attempt to close the case of his assassination.
Harb will hold a press conference at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday in order to respond to Madi's request.
State commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr charged last week Hayek, a Hizbullah member, with the assassination attempt on Harb in July 2012 and with carrying out acts of terror.
If convicted the suspect, who remains at large, could be sentenced to death.
The MP received telephone calls of condemnation of the request from various officials, including Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, former Premier Saad Hariri, Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora, and a number of lawmakers.
The March 14 General Secretariat later condemned Madi's request, noting: “The decision was made less than 48 hours after the lawmaker made his statements, but the charges against Hayek were made nearly seven months after the assassination attempt.”
“The request is not based on any legal investigation, but it is an attempt to derail the course of the investigation in Harb's assassination attempt,”it said in a statement.
The March 14 General Secretariat therefore voiced its solidarity with Harb, hoping that Madi would retract his request “for the sake of the judiciary and its integrity.”
The March 14 opposition lawmaker escaped the assassination bid after residents of a building in which his office is located in the Beirut district of Badaro discovered individuals trying to booby-trap the elevator.
A string of high-level assassinations struck Lebanon between 2004 and 2008, targeting political, media and security figures who vocally opposed the Syrian government, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a powerful car bomb blast in February 2005.
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