August 16, 2022

U.S. Judge: Director of Lebanese General Security’s Request is Rejected, Case Moves Forward

Request by The Director of the Lebanese General Security, General Abbas Ibrahim, for his name to be removed from the Fakhoury vs. Iran Lawsuit was denied by a U.S. District Court Judge

Washington, DC – The Family of Amer Fakhoury moves forward with Lawsuit against Iran over Amer Fakhoury’s jailing and death, despite unsuccessful protest from the Director of the Lebanese General Security, General Abbas Ibrahim.  

After the family’s lawsuit against Iran was filed and became part of the public record General Abbas Ibrahim filed a motion to remove his name from the complaint and the name of the facility in Lebanon where Amer Fakhoury was tortured. His argument was that this ruins his reputation in the United States. Fortunately for the Fakhoury Family, the judge denied General Abbas’s motion to intervene and strike his name from the complaints. 

“We are pleased that the complaint against the perpetrators will proceed as it was filed,” said Zoya Fakhoury. “Through this process we will have the opporunity to bring some justice to for Amer’s brutal torture by Lebanese officials and agents of Iran that resulted in his death,” added Macy Fakhoury.

The facts presented in the complaint explain how the late US hostage was tortured in the Lebanese General Security directed by General Abbas Ibrahim and how he was forced to sign false documents that were later used to illegally detain him for 7 months. The torture he received in the Lebanese General Security, and the maltreatment that followed in the military prison led to the death of Amer Fakhoury few months after he was released. 

Attorney Robert Tolchin stated: “We are very encouraged that the Court dismissed the Lebanese intelligence agency, the GDGS’ motion to intervene and strike our complaint. The judge correctly found that our allegations of the GDGS’s connections to Iran and Hezbollah go to the very heart of our factual case and must be allowed to be adjudicated. Abbas Ibrahim tried very hard to conceal his agency’s involvement and squelch our case but the court wasn’t having it. We fully understand how concerned Lebanon must be that this civil proceeding will reveal the role it’s officials played in the illegal arrest and torture of American citizen Amer Farkhoury in Beirut. And we are determined to pursue Justice and expose all the crimes that the Iranians and the GDGS engaged in.”

As Amer Fakhoury’s second year memorial is approaching, this is a big win and a big step towards accountability.