Celine’s case to be heard in court and retrial for the accused in the murder of Eliane

The Criminal Court of Beirut closed yesterday the hearing in the case of the killing of child Celine Rakan in 2014 under mysterious circumstances and which charged the Ethiopian migrant domestic worker, Bozai, with her death (c.f: http://bit.ly/2gG7hFh). The session, to recall, is the last before the projected pleading on May 23 after which the verdict will be announced. The closing session which lasted an hour and a half was assigned to hear testimonies which shed further ambiguity on the case. The victim’s father insisted on accusing the MWDW with the murder, in what seemed to be a contradiction to an earlier confession on aired by a TV program stating that his child died from a vaccine administered by her doctor. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian worker still denies charges, and the statement of the forensic doctor appeared to be undecisive, especially that he mentioned more than a possibility of a natural death. Thereafter, Bozai’s attorney Hassna Abdel Rida asked Judge Hajjar to designate a special hearing for a committee of doctors to listen to what they have to say. Towards the end of the session, Yassir Rakan, Celine’s father, approached one of the journalists covering the case and verbally assaulted him accusing him of receiving bribes and attacking all the media for allegedly not supporting him. On the other hand, following the appeal for cassation by the State Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Sakr Sakr, against the ruling in the murder of Eliane Saftali, and his demanding to revoke the verdict and retry the accused Hassan Hamiyeh (c.f: http://bit.ly/2nfVwVI), the head of the military court of cassation, Judge Toni Latuf, agreed yesterday to retry the three suspects in the killing of the young woman, and decided to adjourn the meeting until April 25. (Al Mustaqbal, March 29, 2017)