On the fourth anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, 'truth and justice' remain as elusive as ever
Victims’ relatives and friends gathered yesterday next to the charred ruins of the port silos, scene of the explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The investigation by judge Tarek Bitar continues to be hindered by Hezbollah and its allies. Hope is still alive that the investigation can resume, while the pope offers words of comfort at the Angelus.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – Day: 4 August 2020; time: 6:07 am. For some, this is the day and hour when their lives stopped. Others, without losing their lives, lost their joy of life or their hope of living normally.
“It's every day on 4 August!" says a protester, four years later, holding in her hand a large dial whose hands are frozen on the moment when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate blew up; they had been stored since 2013 in Hangar 12 of the Port of Beirut, in defiance of the law and the most elementary safety measures.
Pope Francis also spoke yesterday at the Angelus, urging again Lebanese authorities to seek “truth and justice" for the victims of that August 2020.
For the 4th anniversary of the terrible explosion, the relatives of the victims held a rally in front of the Statue of the Emigrant, which stands next to what is left of the port’s silos.
The explosion devastated a Beirut neighborhood famous for its elegant arcaded houses, killed 235 people, injured thousands, and partially or totally destroyed some 7,000 homes.
Lara Hayek, a victim of the terrible blast, is still alive, but vegetating in a hospital emergency room. Her mother visits her every day to stroke her hair and talk to her, or rather talk to the memory she keeps of her smile and vitality.
To unravel one of the most complex cases in the country's history, a first magistrate was appointed, then a second, Tarek Bitar.
Among those concerned by his investigation are the right-hand man of the Speaker of the House, Nabih Berry, as well mas ministers and former ministers, officers, senior civil servants. To hinder his action, some 40 legal actions and requests for recusal have been made.
On whose behalf was the ammonium nitrate unloaded at the Port of Beirut in 2013? This is the truth that the Lebanese justice system is not being allowed to discover by any means. But over the years, a well-kept secret has become an open secret.
In fact, the real buyer of the ammonium nitrate was not an explosives manufacturing company in Mozambique, as was claimed at the beginning, but a British trading company called Savaro, "an empty shell, devoid of assets and entrusted to a frontman", writes Christophe Boltanski, in an article for Amnesty International France magazine La Chronique.
According to the French journalist, the real owners of the ship that transported the nitrate to Lebanon are two businessmen with dual Syrian and Russian nationality.
To identify the culprits, the Lebanese justice system has, for the moment, only a set of clues.
In particular, investigators know that starting in 2013, the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began to use a new weapon: explosive barrels, packed with ammonium nitrate.
Gathered in front of the Statue of the Emigrant, facing the ruins of the silos blackened by the explosion, the victims’ families listened yesterday to a lawyer list the names of those on the list of suspects.
After this, the crowd took an oath to tirelessly pursue the truth, because some despair of the Lebanese justice system and are calling for an international investigation.
“Am I going to say that this day is not a day of mourning, but a day off?" said a young protester disappointed by the relatively small crowd. At exactly 6:07 am, the loudspeakers broadcast the al-Fātiḥa, against a background of mourning bells.
For lawmaker Daddah Sadek, who was among the protesters, things are clear cut. “Look at who is obstructing the investigation, and you will know who the accused is." In tears, he calls for "a Guantanamo" for the guilty.
William Noun, whose firefighter brother was torn apart by the explosion, fulminates against Hezbollah. “We respect the martyrs who fall in the war of support for Gaza, but let them respect our dead!" he said, alluding to the Shia movement’s obstructionist attitude towards the investigation.
Like thousands of Lebanese, the current president of the Beirut Bar Association, Fady Mari, bears the moral scars of the tremendous explosion.
He inherited from his predecessor, Melhem Khalaf, now a member of parliament, the heavy responsibility of fighting against a culture of impunity, which is ravaging the country, and the task of ensuring the follow-up by a legal team representing the victims in more than 1,400 cases.
Victims’ relatives welcomed the pope’s support yesterday. During the Sunday Angelus, the Holy Father said: “Even today, the Lebanese people suffer so much! In particular, I think of the families of the victims of the explosion at the Port of Beirut. I hope that justice and truth will soon be done.”
For his part, French President Emanuel Macron, who rushed to Lebanon after the explosion, published a tweet of support.
.png)
13/10/2021 13:19
