Lebanon’s only English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, is still MIA. But, at last there has been official reaction from the management there:
“How does the decrepit Lebanese justice system suddenly act less than two hours after a court ruling to shut our doors and seize everything?†he said. “We could have resolved this without this surge by the courts.â€
Mr Mroueh said an order from the judge on his appeal is expected by Thursday and that will give him an idea of how the problem can be resolved.
“Until I know the story from the judge, we will keep all avenues open: selling, new investors or even a shut down. We will explore all avenues but we need the judge to rule.â€
I must agree – what is our judicial system on to have reacted so quickly! Court cases in Lebanon, on average, take years to clear and even then, decisions taken are slow to implement.
Does anyone else smell an acrid taste of political corruption? Mroueh seems to be downplaying the issue (probably trying to tick people off for the time being).
The fast action by the normally languid Lebanese legal system was initially seen as a political vendetta against the paper but Mr Mroueh said he did not think that was the case.
“We will not engage in what we would describe at the paper as corrupt behaviour, so we will just have to wait and see,†Mr Mroueh said.
I really do hope The Daily Star finds a way out of this mess and my thoughts go out to all their employees who will not receiving a paycheck at the end of the month.