The Director-General of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), Major General Imad Othman, has reportedly refused to execute an arrest warrant against Ali Hassan Khalil as part of the Beirut Blast Investigation.
Othman, who was notified on October 12th, said that he will not arrest Khalil, claiming that the arrest warrant issued by Judge Tarek Bitar violates Article 40 of the Constitution.
In a TV reportage, Al Jadeed argued that Judge Bitar’s prosecution of Ali Hussein Khalil is based on Article 97 of the parliament’s internal system, which makes it legal.
Based on that the security forces cannot interfere in the work of the judicial authorities and their analysis of decisions, Al-Jadeed accused Othman of violating the principle of separation of powers that is enshrined in the Lebanese Constitution.
“The judicial sources described Othman’s perpetration as a legally reluctant attempt to obscure the prosecution,” Al Jadeed said.
The ISF General Directorate responded to Al-Jadeed’s reportage.
It stated that it “sent a clarification to the attorney general at the Justice Council about the constitutional text in Article 40, which does not permit the arrest of the deputy during the session of the Parliament, so that the concerned judicial authority can confirm the request or not, in order to implement the constitutional and legal texts.”
