Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri responded via his official Twitter account to the reports published by Al-Jadeed on Saturday, January 25th, regarding his personal ownership of 71 properties distributed across different areas in Lebanon.
He denied the claim, asserting that he only owns one of them.
On Sunday, his media office tweeted: “Commenting on what was reported by ‘Al-Jadeed TV’ on the fact that Prime Minister Hariri owned 71 properties in Lebanon, the media office clarifies that PM Hariri only owns one property, which is his house in Beirut (Beit Al-Wasat).”
Regarding the rest of the real estate assets mentioned by the report, which Saad Hariri had inherited from his late father Rafik Hariri, the statement clarified that “he gave them up to his siblings by proxies.”
Following up on that, it went on to affirm that the vast majority of the properties owned by the martyred Prime Minister in Lebanon “had been purchased in the period before he assumed any political responsibilities.”
The clarification came after Saturday’s episode of يسقط حكم الفاسد (Down With the Corrupt’s Ruling), where investigative journalists of the TV channel revealed to the public eye the real estate properties and personally-owned companies of 4 Lebanese political leaders.
During the last third of the episode, the realties and companies of each of Gebran Bassil, Walid Jumblatt, Nabih Berri, and Saad Hariri were counted and detailed live on television, after being acquired through normal legal processes.
As the never-before-revealed real estate documents of Hariri stated, 71 properties were legally listed under his name.
This recent maneuver by Al-Jadeed’s investigative team, coupled with the channel’s new online petition to investigate money transfers abroad, is an important contribution to the ongoing struggle to uncover and bring down political corruption in Lebanon.
The pursuit of justice and the destruction of the disgraceful, decades-old political firewall, which has been shielding the corrupt officials from the scrutiny of the public and the reach of the judiciary, is ongoing and now stronger than ever.
These collective efforts of the revolution and honorable journalism are doing what was thought to be impossible before.
It is thanks to these efforts, for instance, that a Lebanese journalist – or even an ordinary Lebanese citizen – can now apply to acquire a politician’s real estate records without reaching an absolute dead-end.
Because today, no politician dares to intervene in such a process as they used to do before October 17th. For they all know that today, their fates lie with the hands of the revolutionaries.
And they know that these people are eagerly searching for, compiling, and exposing every piece of evidence that further fuels their unabating uprising against injustice and corruption.
If you want to participate in these efforts; if you want to join the battle against this poisoned chalice of abject political subjection and bring back what rightfully belongs to the Lebanese people, sign this petition and contribute to this great reformational endeavor.
