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Beirut, Lebanon- The families of the victims of the bombing in Beirut Port protested the suspension of investigations into the devastating explosion, saying that the investigation was Lebanon’s “last chance to pursue accountability.”
About 300 protesters gathered at the Palace of Justice in Beirut on Wednesday, condemning senior political officials for trying to remove chief investigator Judge Tarek Bitar from the investigation after Monday’s suspension of the investigation.
Paul Nagel, who lost his three-year-old daughter Alexandra in the explosion, is angry that the investigation has been suspended. He compared Lebanese officials to criminals.
“Although it was expected to be from the Mafia, it was disgusting,” Nag
The protesters held up portraits of their families who were killed in the explosion.
These include 17-year-old Christelle Merhi, whose father Joseph worked in Beirut Port and was killed in the explosion.
“If we don’t ask for the truth, then we will never know what happened to the victim,” Mechy told Al Jazeera. “We support Judge Bitar and hope that he will continue to lead the investigation.”
Query pause
Beirut Port Bombing Investigation Suspended On Monday, the former Minister of the Interior Nouhad Machnouk-accused of criminal negligence in the bombing-formally notified Investigator Bitar and asked him to be removed from the case.
Last week, the current MP Mahnuk and former Public Works Minister Youssef Finianos (Youssef Finianos) demanded that Bitar be removed from the bombing investigation, accusing the judge of bias and misconduct.
The legal complaint filed on the grounds of “legitimate suspicion” is similar to the complaint filed by former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeiter against the former Judge Fadi Sawan of Judge Bitar in December 2020.
Khalil and Zeiter accused Sawan of failing to conduct a fair investigation because his Beirut residence was damaged in the explosion. Sawan withdrew from the investigation in February.
Finianos was one of the few former ministers and senior security officials Bitar accused of criminal negligence in early July, but refused to appear in court for questioning.
Others include former prime minister Hassan Diab, former interior minister Nohad Mahnuk and former public works minister Zeit.
Bitar also filed charges against former Army Commander General Jean Kavaji and former Military Intelligence Director Brigadier General Camille Dahel, as well as two other retired intelligence generals.
A few hours before the suspension of the investigation, Bitar also requested the Ministry of the Interior to summon senior security officials, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, and National Security Chief Tony Saliba for questioning.
On August 4, 2020, an explosion occurred in Beirut Port, killing at least 218 people. At that time, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored in the port unsafe for many years exploded.
The death toll continues to increase. Ibrahim Harb, a 35-year-old accountant, fell into a coma after the explosion and died on Tuesday from his injuries.
Approximately 6,500 people were injured and entire neighborhoods in the Lebanese capital were destroyed.
The explosion was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions on record and the single most destructive event in the country’s turbulent history.
‘The guilty must be convicted…the innocent must be acquitted’
President Michel Aoun, who previously admitted that he was aware of dangerous ammonium nitrate stocks, issued a statement on Wednesday supporting the continuation of the investigation.
The statement said: “The investigation must continue so that the guilty will be convicted and the innocent will be acquitted.”
So far, neither Bitar nor his predecessors have summoned the president.
But political and security officials from various factions and parties across the country have been criticizing Judge Bitar.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah accused Bitar of “playing with politics” on the first anniversary of the explosion, and the Grand Mufti Abdul-Latif Drian also condemned Bitar for summoning Di. Yabu said the move “should be condemned.”
Prime Minister Najib Mikati did not criticize Bitar like others, although he told the local broadcaster LBCI that he believed Lebanon “cannot afford the removal of the second judge”.
Human Rights Watch, the legal agenda of local regulators and other organizations have accused the country’s leadership of obstructing the investigation and unfairly targeting Bitar.
A small number of civil society organizations, survivors, and UN experts called for an international investigation, which they believed would be more technically effective and would prevent continued obstruction.
The European Parliament recently followed suit and passed a New resolution Lebanon also called for the same.
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