The destroyed silos of the port of Beirut, four years after the tragedy of August 4, 2020. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Judge Tarek Bitar, who is in charge of the investigation into the explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, notified former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk on Monday of a summons to a hearing scheduled for Thursday, an informed source told L'Orient-Le Jour. According to the same source, no hearing date has yet been set for former Prime Minister Hassan Diab or former Minister Ghazi Zeaiter.
Four magistrates who are being prosecuted are expected to be the last to be summoned: two interim relief judges at the time of the unloading and storage of ammonium nitrate at the origin of Aug. 4, the former head of the cassation prosecution service and a magistrate from that prosecution service.
On Friday, the two former directors of General Security (GS) and State Security, Abbas Ibrahim and Tony Saliba, appeared at the hearings set for them by the investigating judge at the Court of Justice Bitar as part of the investigation into the explosion.
Two French judges, responsible for the investigation into the French victims of the disaster, are also expected in Beirut on April 27 for cooperation between the Lebanese and French justice systems.
Judge Bitar resumed his investigation after the election of Joseph Aoun as president and the appointment of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, both of whom pledged to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
On Aug. 4, 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history devastated large parts of the Lebanese capital. The blast was caused by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate were being stored carelessly, despite repeated warnings to senior officials. The investigation was suspended after Hezbollah accused the judge of bias, which called for Bitar's dismissal, and after a series of legal actions against him by officials named in the investigation.