Civil defence firefighters deployed at the port of Beirut on 23 August 2022 to cool down wheat silos, which were plagued by repeated fires. File photo BEIRUT MUNICIPALITY / AFP
Relatives of the victims of the Beirut port blast filed a complaint against caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury and his counterpart at the Ministry of Finance Youssef Khalil, announced the lawyer Choukri Haddad on Monday.
In an extended interview with local channel al-Hurra, Khoury defended the proposal he submitted to the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) that led to last week's decision to appoint a substitute judge in the investigation of the port blast, currently overseen by investigating judge Tarek Bitar.
Since the announcement of the HJC's decision, the victims' families have multiplied their actions against both Minister of Justice and HJC's president, Souheil Abboud. In a harsh statement published Sunday, the victims' families responded to accusations by Minister Khoury that they were "in the pay of the embassies."
Abuse of influence, breach of duty
The official National News Agency (NNA) reported Monday that Choukri Haddad, the lawyer representing some relatives of the victims, "filed two complaints against the caretakers Ministers of Justice and Finance ... with constitution of a civil party." The complaints were filed under Articles 376 and 377 of the Lebanese Penal Code and on grounds including abuse of influence and breach of duty.
Haddad specified that "the two complaints come in reaction to the refusal of the Minister of Finance to sign the judicial appointments without any legal basis, as well as ... the proposal of solutions which don't conform to the law."
Critics of Mr. Khoury and the HJC see the decision to appoint a new judge as yet another political interference in the investigation. The decision was reached after a meeting between HJC and deputies of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), to which one of the detainees, the former director general of customs, Badri Daher, is closely aligned.
Khalil still has not signed a decree allowing the appointment of several members of the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation. This court, the highest of the judiciary, is responsible for examining all appeals against Judge Bitar by political leaders, who are preventing the investigation from taking its course.
"I'm the one being targeted"
In the interview with al-Hurra, Minister Khoury defended himself on several points. He first claimed the decision to appoint a substitute judge "was taken together with the HJC and is not individual."
"If I am the one destroying the investigation, why shouldn't the HJC destroy it with me? This campaign against me without targeting the HJC shows that I'm the one being targeted," Khoury said.
Regarding the role of judge Tarek Bitar, Khoury said "any judge against whom appeals are lodged must be replaced immediately, and this operation is supposed to be quick."
Khoury said the decision to appoint a new judge is "to open a gap in the case. "
"It is possible that this will lead to Tarek Bitar taking full control of the case ... As soon as he has control of the case, the other judge will be removed," Khoury continued, without offering further explanation. "If the HJC had not agreed with me on this decision, I would not have taken it."
The caretaker Justice Minister persisted: "I am waiting for HJC's approval and the form it will take, and then I will appoint a delegated judge," he promised, claiming not to have been notified by the HJC of any backtracking on its decision.
"I say it: Judge Bitar will stay, he will stay!" Khoury insisted during his TV interview.
Khoury concluded by addressing the relatives of the victims: "I have no dispute with them and I have never accused them of collusion with embassies. I never said those words."
"They are the ones who opened fire on me and said unprecedented things," Khoury said.