Ghada Aoun (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: غادة عون) is a Lebanese judge and

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

's state prosecutor. While some see her as a prominent and incorruptible prosecutor, others accuse her of bias towards the President

Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a Mar ...

of the

Free Patriotic Movement The Free Patriotic Movement ( ar, التيار الوطني الحر, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 2005, the party is currently led by Aoun son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015. Ideology The Free Patriotic movement ...

(whom she is not related to).

Cases

Charges against Imad Osman for corruption

In 2019, Aoun sued the

Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces Directorate ( ar, المديرية العامة لقوى الأمن الداخلي, al-Mudiriyya al-'aamma li-Qiwa al-Amn al-Dakhili; french: Forces de Sécurité Intérieure; abbreviated ISF) is the national police ...

(ISF) Director Imad Osman, General Hussein Saleh as well as other officers on charges of corruption, in relation to their role in impeding her investigation of wasted subsidized dollars.

Charges against Najib Mikati for illegitimate gains

Former PM

Najib Mikati Najib Azmi Mikati ( ar, نجيب عزمي ميقاتي; born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman, and three-time Prime Minister of Lebanon whose current term began in September 2021. He also serves as the acting President ...

was accused of obtaining subsidized

housing loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

s illegally, which should be given only to citizens who cannot afford houses. The charges also involved his son and brother, as well as

Bank Audi Bank Audi (Arabic: بنك عودة, previously Bank Audi- Saradar) is a Lebanon-based universal bank and financial services company headquartered in Beirut, offering financial products and services in personal banking, business banking, private ban ...

. The accused were referred to the examining magistrate in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

for investigation.

Ghada Aoun under disciplinary action

A week after the case of

, Judge Aoun faced "disciplinary action", by State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, who also urged the security institutions to stop referring cases to Aoun, who replied: “They don’t want me to complete the investigations. They want the thefts to continue”, and also claimed that Oueidat had been “eagerly waiting” for the opportunity to press charges against her for taking initiative in cases against corrupt authority figures.

Hadi Hobeish banned from practicing the law for 3 months

In 2019, Aoun ordered the arrest of Hoda Salloum, the Director of the ''Traffic and Vehicles Management Authority'' (Nefaa, النافعة), who is the relative of MP and lawyer

Hadi Hobeich Hadi Hobeich (born July 1, 1974), is a Lebanese politician, lawmaker and MP of the Akkar district in North Lebanon since 2005. He is part of the March 14 alliance and a member of the Future Movement, presided by Saad Hariri. Early years Hadi ...

, who in turn accused Aoun of corruption. A video footage of Hobeich circulated while storming her office and threatening her. Beirut Investigative Judge Assaad Bayram banned the MP from practicing law or entering the Justice Palaces for 3 month.

Charges against Riad Salameh for breach of trust

In 2021, Aoun charged

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

Governor

Riad Salameh Riad Toufic Salameh (Arabic: رياض توفيق سلامة, born July 17, 1950) is the current Governor of Lebanon, Lebanon's central bank, Banque du Liban since April 1993. He was appointed Governor by decree, approved by the Council of Minist ...

with job negligence and breach of trust. The charges are reportedly in relation to Salameh's management of subsidized dollars.

The 2021 raid on money exchange office

Aoun carried out a controversial raid on a money exchange company in Awkar, in defiance of a senior judiciary decision that denied her from that investigation, while she was accompanied by

activists.{{Cite web, date=2021-04-17, title=Defiant Lebanese judge stages second raid on money exchange, url=https://arab.news/zdt53, access-date=2021-04-19, website=Arab News, language=en

References

Lebanese judges Living people 1957 births