Sami Bebawi's legal team told the jury the money was compensation for their client's work manoeuvring complicated contracts in Libya. Defence lawyer Alexandre Bien-Aime said the amounts split between Bebawi and his former subordinate, Riadh Ben Aissa, were authorized by the engineering firm's then-president Jacques Lamarre. "What we submit is that simply, Mr. Jacques Lamarre had decided to remunerate Mr. Bebawi for his particular expertise in project management," Bien-Aime said. "Do you really believe Mr. Ben Aissa told Bebawi everything? "Ben Aissa understood the company and Libya better than Mr. Sami Bebawi."

Source: Libya Today December 10, 2019 20:37 UTC