ALBAWABA - A Lebanese judge is expected to remove a travel ban imposed on Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, two judicial officials said on Wednesday.
According to the sources, Salamah was summoned for a hearing in Paris next month.
Riad Salameh UPDATE:
— Aya Iskandarani (@Aya_Isk) April 12, 2023
Lebanese judge will lift travel ban on central bank chief, summoned for a Paris hearing in May -- 2 judicial officials told @AFP.
"Judge Ghada Aoun will lift the travel ban" tomorrow, 1st official said.
"He'll have no excuse not to go to ??" 2nd one added.
The Lebanese politician is facing a series of judicial investigations both at home and abroad on suspicion of fraud, money laundering and illicit enrichment, among other allegations. He is expected to make a hearing on May 16 in France.
The travel ban against Salameh was approved by Aoun in January 2022 after an activist group filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank chief, alleging financial misconduct.
Judge Ghada Aoun lifts travel ban on criminal #RiadSalameh to avoid excuse for not traveling to Paris where Salameh will be questioned by judge Aude Buresi.
— Wadih AKL وديع عقل ?? (@w_akl) April 13, 2023
Salameh enjoys political, judicial & military protection in Lebanon, preventing implementation of Judge Aoun's decisions.
AFP wrote citing the first judicial official: "Judge Ghada Aoun will lift the travel ban on Riad Salameh tomorrow."
Riad Toufic Salameh is the current Governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, Banque du Liban since April 1993. He is the longest-serving Central Bank governor in the world.
Lebanon has been facing economic woes since the COVID-19 pandemic and its crisis deepened later on after Beirut's port blast in August 2022, which killed at least 218 people and injured 7,000 others.
