The families of the victims of the Aug. 4 port explosion filed a lawsuit Monday against former Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The families of the victims of the Aug. 4 port explosion filed a lawsuit Monday against former Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter on the basis of “arbitrariness in using defense rights,” a legal source told L’Orient Today.
Here’s what we know:
• The lawyers who filed the suit cited the obstacles placed in front of the investigation by the two ministers, along with other former officials, including former Minister Yousef Fenianos.
• They also demanded a fine of LL100 billion, and said that the victims aim to prove “bad faith and abuse of rights.”
• The port explosion investigation, led by Judge Tarek Bitar, is currently suspended and has been halted several times due to lawsuits to remove Bitar from Zeaiter, Khalil, Fenianos, former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk and former Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
• A legal source also told L’Orient Today that the families of the victims chose Khalil and Zeaiter because they are the most guilty of obstructing the investigation.
• Both Khalil and Zeaiter have had a warrant for their arrest issued by Bitar due to repeated refusal to appear for questioning.
• Bitar’s predecessor, Judge Fadi Sawwan, was removed by the Court of Cassation in March 2021 from his role as the head of the port blast investigation following a lawsuit filed by Khalil and Zeaiter.
• The Aug. 4 port explosion killed more than 200 and has displaced thousands more from their residences in the areas surrounding the port.