Lebanese judiciary splits over Beirut Port explosion
Chief Prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat opens proceedings against Judge Tarek Bitar, who is in charge of the port blast investigation, for allegedly "rebelling against justice" and "usurping power". The latter is not allowed to leave the country. The 17 people held in connection with the port blast have been released.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – Lebanon’s judiciary is deeply divided. Lebanon’s Chief Prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat on Tuesday summoned Judge Tarek Bitar for questioning. The latter heads the Court of Justice, a special court, without appeal, and heads the investigation into the explosion of the Port of Beirut, on 4 August 2020.
Oweidat has charged Bitar with "rebelling against justice" and "usurping power” and ordered him not to leave the country.
A day earlier day, Judge Bitar had summoned Oweidat, along with other legal, military and political figures, citing a study to resume his investigation, after a halt of 13 months. The latter refutes all legal arguments and means used to remove him from the case, whether based on legitimate suspicion or given prerogatives,.
Prosecutor Oweidat also ordered the release of all 17 people held in detention waiting trial since the beginning of the investigation, including ex-Custom Office chief Badri Daher, who is close to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and Beirut Port Authority head Hassan Koraytem.
The sudden decision extends to all detainees a release order Judge Bitar signed on Monday for seven of them, which the police did not carry out. The latter is under the orders of Prosecutor Oweidat Mr. Daher was not among those Judge Bitar ordered released.
Nothing indicates that this showdown can be solved, but at least, it has the merit of “ending a travesty” and placing the spotlight back on the port explosion that killed 235 people, injured thousands, and inflicted massive damage to several Beirut neighbourhoods.
Chaired by Souheil Abboud, the Higher Judicial Council is meeting today, but hopes are slim that anything good will come out other than more controversy, because of the politicisation of the affair.
The victims' relatives and many lawyers have slammed Prosecutor Oweidat's decision. Judge Bitar rightly noted that the prosecutor had been removed from this case, because of family ties with one of the accused he, Bitar, had summoned, namely Transport Minister f Ghazi Zeayter, a member of the Amal movement.
According to a senior judicial official who wishes to remain anonymous, the two magistrates have exceeded their power, and both must be called to order by the Higher Judicial Council.
According to this source, Judge Bitar was driven more by a “state of necessity”, i.e. pursuing the investigation, than by legal arguments. In any event, for the source, “the release of all detainees should not have occurred”.
For his part, Judge Bitar, estimating Prosecutor Oweidat's initiative "a flagrant violation of the law", pledged "not to drop the case until the publication of the indictment.”
Meanwhile, yesterday victims’ relatives called for a giant rally in front of the Palace of Justice; lawmakers from the Phalange (Kataeb) party announced that they were going to join the rally.
Government institutions continue to weaken
The conflict at the top of the judiciary further weakens the credibility of government institutions, already undermined constitutionally by the delay in electing a new president, and economically, by the collapse of the country’s currency.
According to economists, the Lebanese pound has lost 97 per cent of its value, throwing a large part of the population into extreme poverty; this has paralysed the educational system, now in its third week of a general strike, and hospitals, where patients who want to be admitted must now bring their own medications.
Only the security forces continue to show cohesion, thanks in part to foreign aid. US Ambassador Dorothy Shea just announced that the US would provide US$ 72 million over six months to pay an additional US$ 100 per month for each member of the military and the internal security forces.
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14/10/2021 17:14
13/10/2021 13:19
