President Michel Aoun is pictured as he delivers a televised speech at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — President Michel Aoun Tweeted on Thursday, the second anniversary of the Aug. 4, 2020 port explosion, that he affirms his “commitment to achieving justice through a clean judiciary process.”
Here’s what we know:
• Aoun also wrote that the path to justice would be achieved “far away from any fraud or bias or injustice, to hold accountable anyone involved, because no one is above the law.”
• Yesterday the Free Patriotic Movement, which Aoun founded, published a statement blaming some politicians, the Higher Judicial Council and its head for “handcuffing” the head of the port explosion probe judge Tarek Bitar. The FPM also called for transparency in the investigation and for “ending the obstruction of the courts of cassation.” Bitar is currently suspended from his role as the head of the blast investigation due to multiple requests for his removal from high-ranking politicians who had been called in for questioning. The Higher Judicial Council has the authority to decide on the removal requests against Bitar, but is currently awaiting three appointments. In June 2020, President Michel Aoun refused to sign judicial appointments submitted by then-Justice Minister Marie Claude Najem. The appointments remain unsigned to this day.
• The port explosion killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. It also left a large part of the city destroyed and displaced around 300,000 people from their homes, according to the UN.