BEIRUT, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday urged the judiciary to confront "anyone restraining its justice at the central bank," according to a statement by the presidency.
Addressing judicial authorities, Aoun said judicial authorities have requested charges be pressed against Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh according to preliminary investigation findings.
"Ever since, concerned judges refrained from filing a lawsuit according to legal norms, which pushes me, from my position and role as the head of the state and under my constitutional oath, to call on the judiciary to liberate itself from any inducement or intimidation," Aoun was quoted by the statement as saying.
Citing unnamed judicial sources, local media earlier reported that Lebanese prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat on June 9 concluded preliminary probes into Salameh and transferred the case to the public prosecutor in Beirut.
According to the reports, Oueidat asked the court to charge Salameh and his associates with embezzlement of public funds, document forgery, money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion.
In March, the Lebanese judge Ghada Aoun charged Salameh with illicit enrichment and money laundering after he failed to attend a court hearing.
Salameh is among the top Lebanese officials blamed for the unprecedented financial crisis in Lebanon.
In January, Ghada Aoun imposed a travel ban on Salameh after a corruption probe accused him of embezzlement and dereliction of duty during the financial and economic crisis.
The governor, who faces judicial probes at home and abroad, has denied all allegations. ■
