Charles Rizk () (born 20 July 1935) is a Lebanese

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

politician, who served at different cabinet posts.

Early life and education

Rizk was born on 20 July 1935. He studied at the prestigious

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, and received a PhD in law.

Career

Rizk was a faculty member at

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951. The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...

until he joined politics. He began his political career as an aide to President

Fuad Chehab Fouad Abdallah Chehab ( / ; 19 March 1902 – 25 April 1973) was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as president of Lebanon from 1958 to 1964. He is considered to be the founder of the Lebanese Army after Lebanon gained independence f ...

. He was Lebanon's representative at the

Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

. Then he became director general of the information ministry in 1967. From 1978 to 1983 he served as the head of the state television station

Tele Liban Tele may refer to: * Television * Tele (band), a German rock/pop band * Tele Ikuru, Deputy Governor of Rivers State * Télé, Mali, a rural commune of the Cercle of Goundam in the Tombouctou Region of Mali * Telemarketing * Telegraphy * ''Eveni ...

. At the beginning of 2005, Rizk was appointed information minister. In July 2005, then Prime Minister

Fouad Siniora Fouad Siniora (; born 19 July 1943) is a Lebanese politician. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 2005 to 2009. He served as minister of Finance from 2000 to 2004. Early career In the 1970s, Sanioura ...

controversially appointed Rizk as justice minister, a post claimed by Michel Aoun and also by

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. The son of Rafic Hariri, he ...

. The appointment of Rizk, a man close to president Lahoud, was opposed as it was felt that the investigation into the murder of

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed fi ...

would be unlikely to be pursued vigorously by a pro-Lahoud minister. Rizk silenced critics by giving the investigation under UNIIIC-Commissioner

Detlev Mehlis Detlev Mehlis (born 1949) is the Senior Public Prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General in Berlin. He has 30 years of prosecutorial experience and has led numerous investigations into serious, complex transnational crimes. He has been a ...

his full support while later on he became an outspoken critic of Mehlis' successor

Serge Brammertz Serge Brammertz (born 17 February 1962) is a Belgian prosecutor, academic and jurist. He serves as the chief prosecutor for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) since 2016. He also served as the chief prosecutor ...

because of his alleged inactivity in the ongoing investigation. Rizk's term as justice minister lasted until July 2008. He was not appointed to the national unity government headed by

and was replaced by

Ibrahim Najjar Ibrahim Najjar is a lawyer, a professor of law, a Lebanese politician and a former Justice minister (2008–2011). Early life and education Najjar was born 2 September 1941 in Tripoli, North Lebanon, and is an adherent of the Greek Orthodox Ch ...

. Rizk was one of the candidates for the Lebanese presidency in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizk, Charles Living people 1935 births Sciences Po alumni Information ministers of Lebanon Justice ministers of Lebanon Tourism ministers of Lebanon Candidates for President of Lebanon Academic staff of Lebanese University Lebanese Maronites