Two Lebanese parliamentarians filed new petitions on Monday seeking the recusal of Judge Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigations into the August 4, 2020 explosions at the port of the capital Beirut.
MPs Ghazi Zoaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil have asked the Court of Cassation to suspend Bitar’s activities citing «legitimate suspicions» about his work, barely a week after he resumed them after thirteen months of paralysis due to a cataract of lawsuits against him.
Jalil has also filed another complaint against Bitar with the Judicial Inspection Commission accusing him of «willful misconduct» in the investigations into the blasts, which left more than 220 dead and huge property damage, Lebanese TV station LBCI reported.
The lawsuits filed by Jalil, who was finance minister, and Zeaiter, who was public works minister, seek to remove Bitar, something they already achieved through several lawsuits against his predecessor in charge of the investigations, Fadi Sauan.
They also come in the context of a court battle after Bitar last week charged the attorney general, Ghasan Ueidat, who responded by issuing an order to release all detainees and filing charges against the judge himself.
In the aftermath, Ueidat said his decisions sought to «avoid bloodshed in the streets,» amid renewed protests by relatives of the victims of the blasts, who criticize that more than two years later there has still been no justice.
The explosions were caused by about 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the port, the main entry point for goods and humanitarian aid, according to initial investigations, although other options have not yet been ruled out. The event provoked a wave of protests for what the population perceives as a reflection of mismanagement, corruption and interference of the parties in the affairs of the State, which led to the fall of the Executive of Hassan Diab.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
