Al-Rahi Defends Salameh, Refuses Blaming Entire Crisis on Single Person

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday defended Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh without naming him and accused some judges of politicization.

“It is unacceptable to destroy the judiciary’s independence, prestige and dignity. Some judges lose their independence, submit to the political authority and implement its directions without evaluating the danger of these practices on Lebanon’s higher interest,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon.

“Some judges are harming the judiciary’s mission and independence through politicizing and sectarianizing it,” the patriarch lamented.

He accordingly called on the senior judicial authorities to “end their hesitation and put an end to the judicial islands inside the judiciary.”

Apparently referring to Salameh, al-Rahi added: “We demand trying all the corrupts who wasted public funds and led the country into the political, economic and financial collapse, instead of authorities picking out a single person from the entire republic to blame him for the entire Lebanese crisis and the failure of the past 30 years.”