Some of the families of Aug. 4 explosion during their monthly vigil on 4 June 2024. (Photo sent to L'Orient Today by the families of the victims)
BEIRUT — Around twenty relatives of some of the victims of the explosion that devastated the port of Beirut and part of the capital on Aug. 4, 2020, gathered on Tuesday in front of the Emigrant statue in Beirut, as they have done monthly for almost four years since the blast.
"Today we turn to the Public Prosecutor, Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar," a statement by the victims' families reads. "You are in a position of responsibility for the fate of a nation and its citizens. We ask you to reverse the illegal decisions and end the effects of the Oueidat coup and its ... shameful actions."
The port blast was the result of negligence and the improper storage of ammonium nitrate, leading to one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Two hundred and eighteen people were killed and over half of Beirut was damaged.
Some of the families of Aug. 4 explosion during their monthly vigil on 4 June 2024. (Photo sent to L'Orient Today by the families of the victims.)
In March, Hajjar met some of the victims' relatives who wanted to convey to the prosecutor their "commitment to reactivating the investigation file." The investigation had been suspended during his predecessor Ghassan Oueidat's term in office.
Oueidat had forbidden the public prosecutor's office and the security services from receiving or executing any decision issued by the investigating judge at the Court of Justice, Tarek Bitar.
"Today, you carry the blood of victims and martyrs on your neck, and you must do justice to them," the families said. "We also address Judge Tarek Bitar: You still have legal judgments and consider that you have the right to continue the investigation. What are the things that prevent you from doing that?"
On Monday, the relatives staged a protest outside of Beirut's Justice Ministry as they called for the stalled investigation headed by Bitar to be revived. They burned tires in front of the ministry in anger over the lack of progress in holding anyone accountable for the lives lost on that day.
