The silos of the port of Beirut were ripped by the double murderous explosion of Aug. 4, 2020. (Credit: Archives/ João Sousa/ L'Orient Today)
Families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, protested Thursday morning to urge the swift resolution of the inquiry into the incident, which claimed over 220 lives and wounded more than 6,500 individuals.
During the sit-in, the victims' relatives specifically called for a rapid decision on the complaint filed this past January by the general prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Ghassan Oueidat against the investigative judge Tarek Bitar. Oueidat had filed his legal action shortly after Judge Bitar launched proceedings against him.
The duty of adjudicating the dispute between these two high-level judicial officials falls on Habib Rizkallah, the First Investigative Judge of Beirut. Rizkallah was appointed to this position in June by the president of the Higher Judicial Council, Souheil Abboud.
Additionally, the families are demanding the creation of an indictment chamber capable of handling appeals against the expected decision of Judge Rizkallah.
The catastrophic blast was triggered by a fire in a warehouse, where hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate had been unsafely stored for years – an admission made by the authorities themselves.
The investigation has been at a standstill for months due to blatant interference by political and security officials, some of whom are being prosecuted by Judge Bitar in connection with the case.