BEIRUT - The Higher Judiciary Council issued a statement affirming its support of the judges who worked on the case of Roula Yaacoub, who was allegedly beaten to death by her husband.
“We have complete confidence in the professionalism of judges who worked on the case of the deceased Roula Yaacoub,” the council stressed in a statement released Friday.
The council also said that media criticism of the judges had been unfair and inaccurate, adding that “their ruling was based on their own conviction, after having examined the case, and nothing affected their decision.”
The Higher Judiciary Council also denounced “using the media as a method of pressure to disrupt the proper functioning of the judiciary.”
Roula Yaacoub was allegedly beaten to death by her husband in northern Lebanon, triggering an outpour of criticism from the media and civil society, but Investigative Judge Alaa al-Khatib released her husband, Karam Afif al-Bazi, in July 2013.
Yaacoub’s case has resurfaced after an decision was issued on January 24, 2014, stating that the defendant could not be tried due to a lack of evidence, and would be released.
The decision stirred a wave of doubts and questioning by activists, both with regard to its content and the evidence on which it was based.
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/lebanonnews/533389-lebanon-judiciary-backs-ruling-in-battered-wife-case
