Lebanese lawyer jailed for "impersonating a lawyer" fights for freedom (AFP)
by Nayla Razzouk

BEIRUT, Aug 22 (AFP) - Lebanon's Mohammad Mughrabi, a holder of a doctorate of law from Columbia University and a famous lawyer for the last 40 years, is languishing in a jail cell as he faces charges of impersonating a lawyer.

The 64-year-old veteran lawyer spends his time issuing statements denouncing his arrest, on August 8, which has sparked a chorus of condemnation from human rights watchdogs around the world.

He stands accused of "impersonating a lawyer", a charge that carries a maximum three-year jail term, after he continued to practise despite being disbarred in his absence for allegedly bringing the judiciary into disrepute.

Mughrabi rejects the Beirut Bar Association's charge that he was illegally practising law while disbarred.

"I am entitled to continue to practise until a court of law, such as the Court of Appeal... decides otherwise," he wrote in one of his recent letters from prison.

Mughrabi, a Muslim Sunni, also said the case against him emerged because he "dared" to apply for the post of chairman of the bar association - a position traditionally occupied by Christian Maronites.

After nearly two weeks of legal procedures, the three judges who had been due to hear Mughrabi's appeal against the investigating magistrate's denial of bail, stood down from the case on Tuesday.

There was no explanation for the decision, although judges only normally stand down from cases when they see a conflict of interest or have been subject to outside interference.

On Thursday, a new panel of three judges was appointed to hear his appeal.

The committee working for Mughrabi's release, which has been denouncing attempts to delay any attempt to release him, said the new panel was to announce its ruling on his appeal on Tuesday.

"He is under arrest because he has become a formidable threat to the regime," says his son, Ziad Mughrabi who refers to his father as "Dr. Mughrabi" in an apparent sign of utmost respect.

"For forty years, he has been filing lawsuits against prominent politicians in power, judges and lawyers. For three years, he has been leading a campaign for the integrity of the judiciary," he said.

Mughrabi is known to have been taking on the defense of property owners of the once war-devastated Beirut downtown against Solidere, the firm entrusted to rebuild the area and the brainchild of powerful Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Mughrabi has also defended Christian militants opposing the Syrian military presence and political influence in Lebanon.

"My father is not a member of any political party. He has defended all kinds of people, Lebanese people," said Ziad, the owner of an Internet provider firm but currently more busy being an activist trying to get his father out of jail. "Although he has been eligible for US nationality since the 1970s, he refuses to be anything but Lebanese," he said. Mughrabi has become "a pain because he is constantly filing lawsuits, right, left and center," said one lawyer. "He will not let go. He has made enemies everywhere."

Kamal Batal, director of a rights group, denounced Mughrabi's arrest as "he is not a threat to the community and is not attempting to flee."

The London-based rights group Amnesty International "considers the arrest of Dr Mughrabi to be arbitrary, and calls for his immediate release as a prisoner of conscience."

"Amnesty International fears that his arrest may be politically motivated and be meant to intimidate him as a human rights defender."

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has also called for the release of Mughrabi who has "steadfastly refused to remain silent about Syria's repressive role in Lebanon and about corruption within the judiciary."

If found guilty of illegally practising law, he could be jailed for up to three years.