Marcel Ghanem charged with obstruction of justice

BEIRUT: The controversy surrounding Lebanese journalist and host of the political talk show ‘Kalam Ennas’ Marcel Ghanem took another turn on Friday, after Mount Lebanon’s prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun filed charges against him and Saudi journalist Ibrahim El Merhi.

Ghanem was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, while El Merhi was charged with incitement.

The Saudi journalist had appeared on Ghanem’s show on November 9, accusing President Michel Aoun, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun of aiding and abetting terrorism due to their ties to Hezbollah.

Ghanem also came under fire in the wake of this tirade for supposedly failing to defend the various Lebanese political and military figures that El Merhi blasted.

This verbal attack had prompted Lebanese Minister of Justice Salim Jreissati to ask State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud to take the necessary legal measures against Merhi and Odwan Al-Hamri, another guest on the show who also launched the same accusation.

In the aftermath of this attack, Judge Ghada Aoun at the request of Jreissati, also summoned Ghanem to appear before her to “identify himself and clarify the circumstances surrounding the episode.” 

This then prompted Ghanem to dedicate almost 20min of his show on November 16 to lambast this development, while ridiculing the Judge’s claim.

On Thursday, Ghanem was caught up in a scandal after appearing to flip off while discussing the circumstances surrounding Prime Minister Saad Hariri's interview two weeks ago from Saudi Arabia.

Ghanem was a guest on the morning talk show 'Ya Rima' on ‘Sawt El Ghad’ radio station.

While discussing Hariri’s demeanor during his interview on Future TV from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, which many described as an interview under duress, Ghanem resorted to using the ill-advised gesture after saying “that I have to go by what he said.” Hariri had denied that the interview was staged or that he was being held in the Saudi Kingdom against his will.

The video, which was widely shared on social media, caused a backlash, prompting Ghanem to issue a statement explaining that “the gesture was aimed at those threatening and disrespecting me, as well as those who have attacked my character.”

According to Ghanem, the 'Ya Rima' show producer was "transmitting him a direct feed of all these insults during the interview", and the "intended recipients of this spontaneous gesture" were his "abusers and not Lebanese officials”. Ghanem also apologized for his actions.

Ghanem also said that he contacted Hariri, clarifying the situation, which “Hariri completely understood.”