(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — A Lebanese lawmaker reportedly punched an office employee in the neck after she refused to prioritize his court documents at the Baabda Judicial Palace on Monday.
MP Nicolas Fattoush visited the office of Manal Daou, an administrative assistant responsible for processing complaints by Lebanese attorneys. According to Beirut-based newspaper The Daily Star, Fattoush handed Daou his file and asked her to expedite it.
She reportedly informed Daou that she was already working on a previous file, and that he would have to wait a few minutes before she could help him.
Upset that he wasn’t given preferential treatment, the Zahle MP then notified Daou of his position in government and demanded she give his documents priority.
Witnesses say Fattoush explained he was a member of Parliament and used “insulting language” aimed at Daou. The situation allegedly escalated when Daou once again asked him to wait and responded, “Why are you talking to me like this, who are you?”
Witnesses told An-Nahar newspaper that Fattoush raised his voice and began to “punch her repeatedly in the throat.”
Daou’s coworkers and Fattoush’s bodyguard quickly intervened, according to sources.
Daou later filed a lawsuit against Fattoush through the office of the prosecutor. According to The Daily Star, Judge Claude Karam sat the two parties down to make up, after which Daou agreed to drop the lawsuit, sources said.