Lebanon's Central Bank chief vows to appeal against France's arrest warrant

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has slammed French prosecutors for issuing an arrest warrant against him, saying he would appeal against the decision.

Salameh made the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, after an international arrest warrant was issued earlier in the day following his failure to appear before French prosecutors to be questioned on corruption charges.

Salameh denounced as “a violation of law” the arrest warrant, vowing to challenge it by filing an appeal.

He also said the French investigative judge Aude Buresi has made a decision based on "presumptuous ideas," adding that "this is justice based on double standards."

Salameh, 72, was supposed to appear before French prosecutors on Tuesday as part of an ongoing European probe into the fortune he has amassed during three decades in the job.

A European judicial team from France, Germany and Luxembourg has been investigating a corruption probe into charges against Salameh and his associates, including illicit enrichment and laundering of $330 million.

Salameh has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Pierre-Olivier Sur, the French lawyer for Salameh, said French prosecutors didn’t follow the rules upon summoning him to France.

"By having notified the summons less than 10 days before the scheduled date of the interrogation, the rules were not respected," he said, adding, "The summons is therefore null and void."

ME