At the heart of a politico-judicial storm, the magistrate was forced to suspend, Tuesday, his investigation.
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The survey on the deadly explosion at the Port of Beirut, August 4, 2020, is at the heart of a new politico-judicial storm. Only in the tumult, Judge Tarek Bitar faces the judicial obstructions, the denigration campaigns and the threats of politicians, ready to bury a survey that undertakes the culture of impunity that benefited them so far. in Liban. The stubbornness of the training judge of 46 years to establish the responsibilities in the explosion caused by the storage of large amounts of ammonium nitrate, for more than seven years and without precautionary measures, in view and the authorities, forces the respect of the families of the victims who claim justice for the 216 dead and more than 5,000 wounded.
As his predecessor Fadi Sawan, challenged in February by the Court of Cassation, Bitar J. runs the risk of being in turn removed from a survey that has test value for the independence of justice in Lebanon. Tuesday, October 12, he was forced to suspend his investigations for the second time as a result of the complaints for “legitimate suspicion” as to his impartiality filed by two deputies and former ministers, who dispute the judic ‘s jurisdiction to continue. “The course of action adopted by the politicians in the case turns to the parody of justice. [They] deposit all the complaints to which they can think of suspending the investigation (…) in a ridiculous attempt to escape justice” , denounced Aya Majzoub from Human Rights Watch, to the France-Presse agency.
Following the same strategy as its predecessor, the Bitar judge charged, in July, the outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab, four former ministers, as well as several security and judicial officials, for “presumed intention of homicide, negligence and failures. ” The latter multiply since the recourse and the dilatory maneuvers to evade the investigation, with the support of their respective political camps. The hearing of the General Manager of the General Security, Abbas Ibrahim was refused by his supervisory ministry, the interior, while the Superior Council of Defense did not lifted the immunity of the Director of State security, Tony Saliba, for hearing.
“Political climbing”
It did not start the determination of the Bitar judge. On September 16, he issued an arrest warrant – remained without execution – against the former Minister of Public Works and Transport, Youssef Fenianos, the Chrétien Marada party, which had not been presented to his hearing. A few days later, he launched the convocations against Hassan Diab and the other three former ministers, after the lifting of their immunity in the wake of the vote of confidence granted to the Government of Najib Mikati.
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