BEIRUT: Caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar and Telecommunication Minister Jebran Bassil traded blame over the weekend regarding the case of the illegal internet and telecommunications company in Barouk. Najjar denied on Saturday that the Justice Ministry had received any reports or information from the Telecommunications Ministry about an Israeli transmission station located in the mountainous region of Barouk.

“The Lebanese judiciary did not receive any technical reports or information, either from the Telecommunications Ministry or any other party regarding any Israeli transmission station in Barouk Hill or [that the station was] directing its satellite dishes toward the south [Lebanon] or used sophisticated Israeli-made equipment,” Najjar said.

Najjar added that the Barouk internet station had been given a license by former Telecommunications Minister Jean Louis Qardahi in 2004, while former Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh had refused to grant the station domestic interconnection in 2007
In response to Najjar, Bassil stressed that the judicial authorities had been aware of the case since April 2, adding that his ministry had asked the public prosecution for permission to shut down the station and acted accordingly.

“The question is not whether the judiciary was aware of the case but rather if the justice minister knew what was happening in the judiciary [institution],” Bassil told An-Nahar newspaper in remarks published on Sunday.

Criticizing Najjar for attempting to underestimate the case’s importance, Bassil said the justice minister issued a false statement which said the station was unrelated to the internet but rather operated in television broadcasting.

Bassil underscored that after his confirmation, the station had transmitted 300 megabits of internet bandwidth. – The Daily Star, with Naharnet