Relatives mark 1999 slaying of Sidon judges
Relatives and loved ones of four slain judicial figures on Sunday commemorated the ninth anniversary of a Sidon court shooting that claimed the lives of the men in what remains an unsolved murder case. A minute of silence was held for the victims – the late judges Imad Chehab, Walid Harmouch and Hassan Othman, as well as the late prosecutor Assem Abu Daher – before members of the family spoke with media correspondents present at the event.
Abu Daher”s nine-year old daughter Nancy told The Daily Star that: "Daddy has gone to heaven … I want him to come visit us, though."
Eleven-year-old Sally Abu Daher, Nancy”s sister, said that "No one is doing anything [to solve the case]. Every year, we hear the same thing but they still have not caught the people who killed daddy."
"I miss him at birthdays and at school," Sally added. "I wonder why [other kids] have daddies and why mine isn”t around – all I have of him is a picture."
"All that we ask for is justice," said Susan Kabursali, Abu Daher”s widow. "We want to try the killers in the very court that was baptized by the blood of our lost ones … We hope this case is not forgotten – indeed, it cannot be forgotten. Our memory grows alongside the children [of the murdered judges]."
Meanwhile, case prosecutor Rashid Mezher called members of the slain judges” families to offer his condolences and "inform them that investigations are proceeding continuously," but remain secretive in nature.
On June 8, 1999, the murdered judicial figures were poised to hand down verdicts in murder, drug smuggling, forgery, robbery and sexual assault cases involving four Lebanese and four Palestinian suspects, before two gunmen armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers wraught havoc in the Sidon Courthouse.
In addition to killing the four justices, the attack wounded two policemen, a court stenographer and a civilian attending the trial, while provoking widespread controversy regarding security measures taken at the trial as well as potential political motives behind the murders. Nine years on, the perpetrators remain at large, with any collected information on the case remaining privy to the justice system.