On the 26th anniversary of the assassination of four magistrates in Saida, President Joseph Aoun strongly condemned what he described as a “terrorist crime.”
In a statement released on Sunday, the president declared that “nothing can intimidate the Lebanese judiciary or prevent it from fulfilling its mission.”
He paid tribute to the memory of judges Hassan Othman, Imad Shehab, Assem Abu Daher and Walid Harmoush, who were killed in 1999 and described them as “martyrs of justice.”
“Justice is stronger than bullets, and the law will outlast injustice,” Aoun stated, pledging to continue the pursuit of truth and accountability.
“The blood of these martyrs will not have been shed in vain,” he concluded, reaffirming his commitment to judicial independence and the rule of law.
In 1999, gunfire was directed at the judges from two windows of a courtroom on the ground floor of the Saida criminal court. The attackers then fled toward the nearby Palestinian camp of Ain el-Helweh, abandoning assault rifles and a rocket launcher at the scene. According to sources familiar with the case at the time, the attack was believed to be an act of revenge following the execution of three followers of Abou Mahjan, who had been convicted of assassinating Sheikh Nizar Halabi, the religious leader of the Islamic Charitable Projects Association (Ahbash).
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared that “there will be no more impunity”. “We will continue to fight for impartial and independent justice, a justice that will always work for the consecration of justice and the fulfillment of the truth”, he stated on his X account.
The Minister of Justice, Adel Nassar, echoed this sentiment, pledging to fight impunity and preserve the independence of the judiciary.
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