On August 4, 2020, a helicopter extinguished fire at the scene of an explosion in the port of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
(STR/AFP photo via Getty Images
- The Lebanese judge responsible for investigating the Beirut bombing last year was forced to stop working.
- He summoned a former minister of the investigation to file a lawsuit.
- This is the third time he had to stop the investigation.
The Lebanese judge responsible for investigating the bombing in the Beirut port last year was forced to stop working on Thursday because he summoned a former minister who was interrogating to file a lawsuit.
A court official who asked not to be named told AFP that Tarek Bitar was informed that “the lawsuit filed by the former Minister of Public Works Yusuf Feignanos… which forced him to suspend Investigate until a ruling is made.”
In the face of a lawsuit filed by the former minister for alleged negligence in the August 2020 bombing, this is the third time Bitar has had to suspend its investigation.
According to judicial sources, the total number of lawsuits filed against Bitar is currently 15.
The latest news is that in a campaign led by the powerful Shi’ite movement Hezbollah, Bitar is required to replace allegations of “bias” that have been widely rejected by rights groups and the families of bomb victims.
Read | Investigation into Beirut bombing frozen due to justice litigation-source
Representatives of Shiite groups in the government said they would boycott the cabinet meeting until they took a clear position on the request to replace Bitar.
As a result, the Cabinet was unable to hold a meeting within three weeks.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday condemned an attempt to force his government to interfere in judicial affairs and made an unabashed criticism of Hezbollah.
Mikati said at the press conference: “We have put the Beirut bombing investigation within the jurisdiction of the judicial department as much as possible, and we have rejected any form of (political) interference.”
Human rights organizations and relatives of victims fear that repeated suspensions are a prelude to Bitar’s deportation, which will further undermine official investigations into Lebanon’s worst peacetime tragedy.
Bitar’s predecessor, Fadi Sawan, was also forced to suspend the investigation for the same reason until he was finally removed from office in February, a move that was widely condemned as political interference.
