SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 10 December 2024, Tuesday |

Switzerland lingers in prosecuting Salame due to American pressure

The rush of the Swiss judiciary to prosecute the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, retreated in response to American pressure on them in this regard, and a Lebanese source familiar with the merits of this case revealed to “Voice of Beirut International” that the Swiss authorities retreated from sending urgent requests to the Lebanese judiciary to provide them with documents related to a ruling file The Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, is being  pursued by, him under which the Swiss public prosecutor accuses him of “money laundering and embezzlement” by making financial transfers from Lebanon to abroad.

According to the source’s expression, the Lebanese judicial references concerned with this file were surprised by the change in the position of the Swiss Public Prosecutor’s office, which changed its toughness to softer, as the Lebanese judiciary called for not to rush in sending documents via e-mail as it had always insisted, and preferred to deposit them in the diplomatic pouch, i.e. Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and according to the approved routine procedures

The Lebanese source linked this change to the great pressure exerted by the American administration on the Swiss judiciary to stop the prosecution of Riad Salameh or to freeze it for now, which means that Salameh is still a difficult number for the Americans, pointing out at the same time that these pressures “may justify the Swiss refusal to provide the Lebanese  judiciary, with data and evidence from Salameh’s file, required in an investigation in Lebanon into the alleged crimes in Switzerland.