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AUGUST 4

Aug. 4 families protest at Justice Ministry in calls to revive stalled investigation

Aug. 4 families protest at Justice Ministry in calls to revive stalled investigation

Protests outside of the Justice Ministry in Beirut on June 3, 2024 by family members of the victims of the Aug. 4 Beirut Port explosion. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)

Families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut Port explosion staged a protest outside of Beirut's Justice Ministry as they called for the stalled investigation headed by Judge Tarek Bitar to be revived and burned tires in front of the ministry amid anger over the lack of progress in holding anyone accountable for the lives lost on that day.

Bitar's investigation has been on hold for over a year when the judge attempted to restart his investigation but was abruptly forced to stop once more after lawsuits were brought against him by public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat. Oueidat retired on Feb. 22 and has led some of the victims' families to call for the complaints filed against Bitar to be lifted so he can continue his job investigating the explosion.

"We hope that [the new public prosecutor] would remove the lawsuits against Bitar which Oueidat unfairly filed," Ibrahim Qaadan, the father of Aug. 4 victim Ahmad Qaadan, told L'Orient Today's correspondent who was at the protest. "We hope that the new judge will not face pressure. If we didn’t still have hope we wouldn’t be here."

This sentiment was echoed by Michel Awad, the father of one of the youngest Aug. 4 victims, Alexandra Najjar, who told L'Orient Today that if the reason for the investigation going nowhere had to do with Oueidat, then, with him gone, then the investigation should be allowed to continue unimpeded. 

"My grandchild was at her house with her parents when she was killed so life cannot go on normally after," he stated. "They are acting as if nothing happened. I lost part of myself when Alexandra died so we are not going anywhere no matter how much time it took my feeling is that they will not get away with it."

Other members of the victims' families are taking a more proactive approach to trying to get the cases against Bitar dropped with lawyer Cecil Roukoz, sister of Joseph Roukoz, telling L'Orient Today that they filed a lawsuit with Oueidat's replacement, judge Jamal Hajjar, to have Oueidat's claims withdrawn.

"We’re waiting for the fourth anniversary of Aug. 4 and things have not changed. It is not acceptable that a crime of this size to be treated this way," Roukoz said. "We know that those who are corrupt are the politicians but they cannot implement what they want if they don’t have tools in the judiciary, one of which was Oueidat."

Families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut Port explosion staged a protest outside of Beirut's Justice Ministry as they called for the stalled investigation headed by Judge Tarek Bitar to be revived and burned tires in front of the ministry amid anger over the lack of progress in holding anyone accountable for the lives lost on that day.Bitar's investigation has been on hold for over a...