The Aug. 4 explosion decimated the port and surrounding neighborhoods, leaving more than 200 dead and over 6,500 injured. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — On the eve of the monthly anniversary of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, the families of the blast victims again called for judicial independence and an end to impunity in relation to the investigation into the deadly blast.
Here’s what we know:
• During a press conference, Helene Atta, a spokesperson for the families and the sister of Abdo Atta who was killed in the explosion, said that the families “demand the urgent passing of a law that ensures the independence of the judiciary and to end impunity and ensure accountability for the Beirut blast.”
• Mirelle Bazergy, mother of 14-year-old Elias Khoury who was killed in the explosion, meanwhile called on the international community to intervene and help Lebanon proceed with the investigation into the tragedy.
• The conference, held in the courtyard of the Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Modawar near Beirut's Karantina neighborhood, is the families’ first one to be held since Lebanon’s newly elected Parliament convened for the first time Tuesday. The families announced during the conference that they wanted to make sure the investigation remains a priority for the new MPs. A day ahead of the press conference, the families said that over 50 MPs had been invited to the event but that those invited did not include MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, both of whom have been accused in the domestic investigation into the blast.
• The domestic investigation into the blast, which was initiated within days of the tragedy, has been repeatedly hampered in its efforts to bring public officials before it for questioning. It is currently suspended because of numerous requests to remove the head of the investigation, Judge Tarek Bitar, by senior politicians, including MPs Ghazi Zeaitar, Ali Hassan Khalil and former Public Works Minister Yousef Fenianos.
