A view of the port on the day of the double explosion on Aug. 4, 2020. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L’Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — For the first time since the investigation began into the Aug. 4, 2020, double explosion at the Beirut port, a politician appeared for questioning before Investigating Judge Tarek Bitar at the Court of Justice.Former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk (2014–2018) was questioned Thursday in the presence of his lawyer, Naoum Farah, during a session that lasted about 90 minutes.Machnouk was first summoned by Bitar in 2021 but did not appear, instead filing a motion to dismiss the judge on the grounds that he had been indicted “without first being heard as a witness.” That motion was rejected by a court of appeal presided over by Judge Nassib Elia. Machnouk later filed a lawsuit against the state for “grievous acts” by Bitar, but the case stalled due to a lack of quorum at the Court of Cassation, the body tasked with ruling on the...
BEIRUT — For the first time since the investigation began into the Aug. 4, 2020, double explosion at the Beirut port, a politician appeared for questioning before Investigating Judge Tarek Bitar at the Court of Justice.Former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk (2014–2018) was questioned Thursday in the presence of his lawyer, Naoum Farah, during a session that lasted about 90 minutes.Machnouk was first summoned by Bitar in 2021 but did not appear, instead filing a motion to dismiss the judge on the grounds that he had been indicted “without first being heard as a witness.” That motion was rejected by a court of appeal presided over by Judge Nassib Elia. Machnouk later filed a lawsuit against the state for “grievous acts” by Bitar, but the case stalled due to a lack of quorum at the Court of Cassation, the body tasked with...
