Fakhoury's Case Against Lebanese General Abbas Ibrahim Moves Forward. US Court Rejects Ibrahim's Request to Remove his Name

Case Against Iran, Hezbollah, and Lebanese General Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim Moves Forward in New Hampshire.

16-August-2022

The request by Director of 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 lawsuit filed by Amer Fakhoury’s family against Iran and its Lebanese allies over Mr. Fakhoury’s jailing and death moves forward, as the petition by the Director of the Lebanese General Security, General Abbas Ibrahim to have his name removed from the lawsuit is rejected by a US District Court in New Hampshire.

After the family’s lawsuit against Iran was filed and became part of the public record, General Abbas Ibrahim filed a motion to have the court delete his name and the name of the pro-Iranian security facility in Lebanon where Amer Fakhoury was tortured from the complaint. Ibrahim’s argument was that his reputation in the United States would be tainted. 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 opportunity to bring some justice 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 by General Abbas Ibrahim’s security apparatus and how he was forced to sign false statements that were later used to detain him for 7 months. The torture and the maltreatment that followed his incarceration in the Lebanese military prison led to the death of Amer Fakhoury a few months after he was released. 

The family’s attorney Robert Tolchin stated: “We are very encouraged that the Court dismissed the motion by GDGS [General Directorate of General Security], a Lebanese intelligence agency, to intervene and strike our complaint. The judge correctly found that our allegations of 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 its officials played in the illegal arrest and torture of American citizen Amer Fakhoury 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.

Grace Finerman/WMUR NEWS 9/News Anchor/Reporter/ August 16/2022
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Excerpted from:
https://www.wmur.com/amp/article/lebanon-amer-fakhoury-death-lawsuit/40907872

A lawsuit against Iran filed by the family of a New Hampshire man who died shortly after being released from Lebanese custody will continue. Amer Fakhoury died in the United States in August 2020 of Stage 4 lymphoma. Last year, his family filed a lawsuit in Washington against Iran, claiming he developed the illness and other medical issues while imprisoned during a visit to Lebanon. The family claims Lebanon was operating at the behest of Iran. Fakhoury was detained in Lebanon in 2019 after going back to the country decades after he had originally left.

The government in Lebanon took him into custody, claiming he had been involved in murder and torture years before, which he denied. He was eventually released in a political deal and returned to the United States, but he died several months later. His family sued Iran, saying the Islamic theocracy in Tehran controls the Lebanese government. This week, a judge ruled that the case will continue against Iran and denied Lebanon’s request to remove a Lebanese general’s name from the lawsuit. The Fakhoury family said the ruling is a win because of the way the overall case is developing. “The judge denied the Directorate of General Security and Gen. Abbas Ibrahim’s motion to remove Lebanon and their name from the lawsuit because these are facts,” said Gulia Fakhoury, Amer Fakhoury’s daughter. “My father was tortured in Lebanon …, and we’re happy to say the judge took the right decision, and now the case is moving forward.” The family has created a foundation focused on accountability and financially helping families of illegally detained people or hostages.