Belgium calls on EU to sanction corrupt Lebanese politicians for the first time

Belgium calls on EU to sanction corrupt Lebanese politicians for the first time
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On Wednesday, Belgium's Federal Parliament unanimously voted in favour of a resolution that is calling on the European Union to use its framework to impose sanctions on several Lebanese politicians for the first time.

The resolution is the first of its kind since the start of Lebanon’s financial meltdown in 2019, and calls for targeted sanctions in the application of the EU Council decision against those who are prosecuted in the EU for corruption cases.

"It’s the first time that a parliament in Europe adopts a resolution on Lebanon calling on the EU to implement its sanctions framework,” Malik Ben Achour, a Federal MP for the Francophone socialist PS party, told The National. He introduced the bill more than two years ago and it was now adopted during a vote at the Belgian Parliament’s commission for external relations.

"This is a strong signal of support to all those who want to fight for the rule of law in Lebanon and the independence of the judiciary," said Ben Achour, who wants to bring attention to Lebanon's financial crash – which pushed almost three-quarters of the population into poverty, according to the United Nations.

Deepening investigations into Lebanese officials

Experts have stated that the crisis was man-made and was caused by "decades of corruption and nepotism among Lebanon's sectarian political class," the newspaper reports.

Additionally, the resolution adopted on Wednesday also asked the judiciaries of Belgium and neighbouring countries to "deepen investigations into the wealth of Lebanese officials" in Europe. While the resolution did not name the officials in question, Ben Achour took to Twitter to refer to Lebanon's veteran central bank governor Riad Salameh.

"The systematic theft of the money of the Lebanese by a political-financial [mafia] must end," he wrote, adding that the resolution "opens the way for European sanctions against actors (including Riad Salameh) of this 'Ponzi scheme'," which is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent ones.

Salameh is suspected of having embezzled more than $300 million through accounts in Europe and is under investigation in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, but has rejected any accusations of wrongdoing.

"Part of the money that was stolen from the Lebanese people is in Europe, in Brussels, in Germany, in Luxembourg, in Switzerland, in France. That’s something we cannot tolerate," said Ben Achour before the vote.

The resolution adopted by the Belgian Parliament also repeated the importance for the Lebanese government to implement reforms requested by the international community to unlock long-awaited financial aid.


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