Tayyouneh probe suspended as detainees seek to remove judge

BEIRUT — The Court of Appeal notified military court Judge Fadi Akiki today of the request filed by the detainees in the Oct. 14 Tayyouneh clashes to remove him from the investigation, meaning that the judge’s authority in the file is suspended until the court rules on their request.

Here’s what we know:

    • Lawyers of some of the detainees of the Oct. 14 clashes filed a request to remove Judge Fadi Akiki. After the court refused to document their previous request for him to resign from the case, the judge was notified of their most recent request today, which means his authority in the case is suspended, multiple legal experts told L’Orient Today.

    • After an initial investigation of the detainees by army intelligence, the Lebanese Army had transferred the file to the military’s Office of Public Prosecution.

    • Akiki, the government’s commissioner to the military court, reportedly charged 68 people in relation to the Oct. 14 shootings and referred the case to military investigative judge and former head of the port blast investigation Fadi Sawwan.

    • On the same day as the detainees’ request to remove Akiki, the lawyers of the leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea submitted a document arguing that his summoning by Akiki was illegal. The complaint asserted that the file had already been transferred to Sawwan and therefore Akiki did not have the authority to summon him.

    • Geagea did not appear for a scheduled hearing on Wednesday, while some of his supporters blocked roads to protest the summons.

    • A number of political figures, including the Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai, rejected Geagea’s summons and warned against scapegoating him in the Tayyouneh clashes case.

    • The Tayyouneh clashes took place amid a protest called by Amal and Hezbollah to demand the removal of port blast investigation head Judge Tarek Bikar. Seven people were killed and more than 30 injured, with the two Shiite parties casting blame on the Lebanese Forces.