Families of the victims of the Beirut port blast at a sit-in at the Justice Palace, Thursday morning, after Tuesday's news of an alternate judge appointed in the Beirut port investigation. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
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Protesters have begun to gather in front of the Justice Palace in Adlieh this morning, in a continuation from yesterday, when families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion gathered in front of the Justice Minister’s home to protest the Higher Judicial Council’s decision to appoint an alternate judge to rule on issues related to detainees held in connection to the blast. The investigation into the explosion, led by Judge Tarek Bitar, remains suspended. A blast victim’s father present at Wednesday’s sit-in in front of the Justice Palace told L’Orient Today that the decision was an attempt to “obstruct” the investigation and free the detainees. Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, echoed the criticism on Twitter, seeing the move as “political interference” aiding FPM-affiliated customs chief Badri Daher, who is among the detainees. Forces of Change MPs vowed in a statement to “confront” the appointment, which they saw as a “fatal blow to the role of the current judicial investigator, Tarek Bitar.” Bitar’s probe has been suspended for months due to judicial vacancies preventing rulings being issued on complaints against him filed by former Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos and MPs Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil — all of whom are suspects in the investigation and have had warrants filed for their arrest.
A four-year-old Syrian child died in transit to a hospital after Greek authorities rescued around 60 passengers who had been stranded aboard a migrant boat since Saturday between the Greek and Maltese coasts. The child’s mother is in critical condition, according to L’Orient Today’s correspondent. “They were rescued and are now in Greece,” Abou Ayman al-Moshmshani, said of his son, daughter-in-law and six grandchildren who were on the boat, telling L’Orient Today that Greek authorities hospitalized two passengers who had fallen ill and questioned others. Al-Moshmshani said that the boat’s destination was originally either Italy or Germany. Relatives of the Lebanese passengers, all of whom reportedly hail from Bebnine, Akkar, on Tuesday had called on Greek authorities to intervene after the boat’s food, water and fuel supplies were depleted the day before.
“We will send a letter to the UN secretary-general regarding the return of Syrian refugees,” caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar said, two days after General Security began accepting applications from Syrian refugees who wish to be repatriated. The Lebanese government will also send “a note to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to clarify its roles under Lebanese law,” Hajjar added, after a meeting presided over by President Michel Aoun. Lebanese authorities called for improved cooperation with the UNHCR after the international agency urged the displaced populations’ “voluntary and safe return,” denying involvement in government plans to repatriate “15,000 refugees each month.” Addressing the schism in stances, Hajjar said organizations “can consider what they want, but the dialogue should not be cut off,” claiming that the ministerial committee tasked with the plan, despite not agreeing on the plan itself at the time, supports “any step that falls into the category of refugee return.” While no mass return has occurred to date, Syrian refugees’ living conditions have deteriorated amid scapegoating and discriminatory violent outbursts. Also on Wednesday, human rights group Amnesty International called for the case of Bashar Abdel-Saud, a Syrian detainee who had been held at a regional office of the State Security where he was allegedly tortured to death, be transfered to a civilian, rather than military, court to ensure “transparency.”
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayad to “prepare a technical delegation to discuss the technical details with officials in Tehran,” a government source said regarding discussions for Lebanon to receive donated Iranian fuel. Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah expressed in an interview in July his readiness to procure free Iranian fuel allegedly capable of supplementing 10 hours to state electricity generation, which Fayad agreed to several days later. Lebanon currently relies on Iraqi fuel which can be bartered for hydrocarbons compatible with state power plants. Nonetheless, significant electricity supply deficits remain as state supplier Électricité du Liban struggles to keep power plants running and provide a few hours of service each day. Hezbollah imported Iranian fuel in 2021 when fuel shortages had reached their peak, although the state undertaking a similar move would require maneuvering around US sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.
The 36 dancers of the Lebanese troupe “Mayyas” on Wednesday evening qualified for the finals of the America’s Got Talent show. Their performance on Tuesday night was followed by a standing ovation from the judges and the audience. Proud of their all-Lebanese troupe, some in the audience brandished flags with the colors of the country of the cedar to support this all-female troupe, directed by choreographer Nadim Cherfan. One of the four judges on the panel, Simon Cowell, said after Mayyas’ number, that "every single person in this room is going to remember this moment, I promise you that,” adding that “this is not going to just change your lives … this is a performance that changes the world.”
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “No longer riding the hashish high, Lebanon’s cannabis producers move to Captagon.”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz