Relatives of victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion at the premises of the Ministry of Justice, Sept. 9, 2022. (Credit: Screen capture al-Jadeed)
BEIRUT — Tensions rose during a sit-in on Friday morning at the Ministry of Justice in Beirut, where relatives of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 deadly explosion protested against the decision of the Higher Judicial Council to appoint an alternate investigative judge in the investigation of this Beirut blast, which had been entrusted to investigative judge Tarek Bitar. During this protest, families of the victims stormed into the premises of the ministry, from which they were violently expelled by riot police.
In images from the local channel al-Jadeed, people can be seen crowding the stairs of the ministry and members of the security forces trying to prevent their advance. "Shame on you," and "Where is the minister?" can be heard amidst the shouting.
The minister is not present
The state-run National News Agency reported that the relatives of victims were unable to reach the office of the outgoing Minister of Justice, Henri Khoury, located on the fifth floor, although Khoury was reportedly not present. After a physical fight with the riot police, the families were expelled from the building.
Since the announcement of the Higher Judicial Council's decision on Tuesday, there have been many mobilizations and protests in Lebanon. Families of victims gathered in front of the Beirut Palace of Justice on Wednesday and Thursday, and some went to the apartment of Justice Minister Khoury in Hazmieh, a suburb of Beirut, on Wednesday evening. "You are murdering the law, they are murdering our case," said one protester, while Mr. Khoury was not present at the scene. On Thursday evening, other protesters went to the home of Judge Souheil Abboud, where they carried pictures of their children and demanded the independence of the judiciary and for Judge Tarek Bitar to continue its investigation.
The decision to appoint an alternate judge in the investigation was taken after a meeting in which the ten members of the Council approved a proposal by FPM-affiliated Khoury, to appoint an alternate judge who would be responsible for ruling on issues related to the release of detainees held without trial, after the explosion. However, according to experts, this measure represents pure "political interference."
In this regard, a Human Rights Watch researcher on Lebanon, Aya Majzoub, argued in a tweet that "this is not about the rights of the detainees, but only about one of them, Badri Daher, [former] head of customs", affiliated to the Free Patriotic Movement.
More than two years after the tragedy, the investigation has been interrupted by multiple political maneuvers and is currently suspended by various complaints against Judge Bitar, including MPs Ghazi Zeaiter, Ali Hassan Khalil and former Minister of Public Works Youssef Fenianos, who are all suspects in the investigation and are subject to arrest warrants, which did not prevent the election of Zeaiter and Khalil to the Lebanese Parliament last May.