The port of Beirut after the double explosion on Aug. 4, 2020. (Credit: AFP archives)
After 26 months of impediments, Tarek Bitar, the judicial judge tasked with investigating the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, is finally free to proceed with his work. This came after acting top prosecutor Jamal Hajjar reversed on Monday a decision made by his predecessor Ghassan Oueidate in January 2023 banning the prosecutor’s office and the judicial police from cooperating with Bitar. With this ban lifted, Bitar can now issue notifications or receive all necessary documents and materials for his investigation.However, the annulment does not pertain to the second part of Oueidate’s decision about the release of 17 detainees who had been incarcerated by Bitar, a high-ranking judicial source told L’Orient-Le Jour. At the time, Oueidate made the call immediately after Bitar initiated proceedings against him in the same case.Bitar can...
After 26 months of impediments, Tarek Bitar, the judicial judge tasked with investigating the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, is finally free to proceed with his work. This came after acting top prosecutor Jamal Hajjar reversed on Monday a decision made by his predecessor Ghassan Oueidate in January 2023 banning the prosecutor’s office and the judicial police from cooperating with Bitar. With this ban lifted, Bitar can now issue notifications or receive all necessary documents and materials for his investigation.However, the annulment does not pertain to the second part of Oueidate’s decision about the release of 17 detainees who had been incarcerated by Bitar, a high-ranking judicial source told L’Orient-Le Jour. At the time, Oueidate made the call immediately after Bitar initiated proceedings against him in the same...