Scenes of desolation after the explosion at Beirut Port on Aug. 4, 2020. (Credit: AFP)
Fearing an attempt to sabotage the course of justice, the Association of Victims' Families of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut Port explosion warned on Wednesday against a possible parliamentary maneuver aimed at granting immunity to MPs facing prosecution. On the occasion of their 58th month of mobilization, the families urged President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to prevent the opening of an extraordinary parliamentary session before June 13, a key date in the investigation led by Judge Tarek Bitar.
"We fear that the Parliament's call for an extraordinary session before June 13, the date of the session scheduled to question the accused MP Ghazi Zeaiter before the judicial investigator, will be used as a means of granting immunity to the accused MPs and preventing them from appearing before Judge Tarek Bitar in the port crime case," the association said in a statement. "This decision would be considered an obstruction to justice and will reopen the bleeding wound we are trying to heal with truth and accountability."
Judge Bitar, tasked with investigating the Beirut Port explosion, set Friday, June 13, as the hearing date for former Public Works Minister and MP Ghazi Zeaiter, implicated in this explosion. The judicial investigation aimed at determining the responsibilities for this tragedy, which killed 235 people and injured more than 6,500 others, has still not concluded.
The families stated that they were following "recent judicial developments in the case with a lot of hope and caution ... We eagerly await the conclusion of the investigation with all the accused, regardless of their political or judicial status, as no one is above the law, regardless of their position."
The association also praised "the bold judicial measures taken by Judge Tarek Bitar, after years of obstruction and political interference," calling it a "victory for justice and the right to know the whole truth about the individuals who brought in the explosive materials, neglected, covered up, and obstructed the investigation."
After 26 months of obstacles, Bitar, an investigating judge at the Court of Justice, tasked with investigating the Beirut Port explosion, has been operating freely since March 10, following the removal of the ban imposed in January 2023 by former Attorney General Ghassan Oueidat, prohibiting the prosecutor's office and judicial police from cooperating with him.
Hoteit denounces a 'politicization of justice'
Meanwhile, the president of another association of victims' families, Ibrahim Hoteit, sent a letter to President Aoun, denouncing "the blatant politicization of the national and humanitarian cause of the victims' families," particularly evident "in political accusations, arbitrary arrests, discretionary and populist summons, the absence of unified standards, and the lack of judicial professionalism."
"This has led to a vertical division among the ranks of the martyrs' families," he stated, condemning "a suspicious way of working by the investigating judge" and "judges and lawyers who flout the laws and the constitution to please their political patrons."
"We fear today that the investigation will return to square one," he added.
Hoteit is close to Hezbollah and is hostile to Bitar.
