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Arrestation de Maîte Moghrabi / Lawyer Mohammed MOGHRABI Bottom of Form 1
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 02:08:12 +0100
Arrest of Human Rights Activist and Lawyer Mohammed MOGHRABI
The non-governmental organization SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) is gravely concerned about the arrest of Mr. Mohammed Moghrabi, lawyer and Human Rights activist, which took place on Friday August 8, 2003 in Beirut, Lebanon.
He is believed to be held at the Central Office of Criminal Investigation of the Justice Ministry building. Mr. Moghrabi's arrest is pursuant to a complaint lodged by the Beirut Bar Association accusing him of falsely claiming the title and illegally practicing the profession of a lawyer. The Beirut Bar Association had previously banned him from practicing law, a ban which Mr. Moghrabi had appealed to the relevant tribunals according to our sources in Beirut.
We fear that this arrest is yet another interference of the political authorities in Lebanon with the judiciary. Mr. Moghrabi gained international notoriety for his fight against the arbitrary detention of dissidents and opposition members beginning in the 1990s, and against the confiscation of downtown Beirut property from its owners to the benefit of the company SOLIDAIRE.
He also launched a more recent campaign denouncing corruption in the Lebanese judiciary, an action that is thought to have led to his present legal predicament. We urge the Lebanese authorities to insure that Mr. Mohammed Moghrabi's rights are secured and protected as stipulated in the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights to which Lebanon is signatory. We call on the Beirut Bar Association to uphold its essential mission, which is to defend and protect the freedoms and rights of all citizens, including Mr. Moghrabi.
Paris, August 10, 2003. SOLIDA Organization