The destroyed silos at the Port of Beirut, June 27, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L’Orient-Le Jour)
On the eve of the fifth commemoration of the explosion at Beirut Port on Aug. 4, 2020, several political, religious and social figures called Sunday for accountability and denounced the ongoing impunity.
In his Sunday homily, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, Archbishop Elias Audi, said that "this explosion remains an open wound in the body of Beirut, and a stain of shame on the forehead of all those who knew and still know, but have not revealed the truth, hid it, contributed to erasing or concealing it, or refused to appear before the judge."
He added: "How can they sleep with a clear conscience when thousands of families are waiting to know who took their children's lives or displaced them? How can a judge, a deputy, a minister or anyone connected to this disaster carry on normally while the mothers of Beirut spend their nights in tears and suffering, and some wounded still moan? Enough obstacles to the investigation, silence about the truth and fear for interests."
He also stressed that the tragedy was the result of "negligence, corruption, inadequacy, complicity and indifference."
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri wrote his X that "five years after the crime of the explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon is still waiting for justice for the victims of this catastrophe and their families, for the wounded, and for our wounded capital Beirut."
"We do not lose hope that the indictment will be issued and the legal process launched as soon as possible, so that the guilty are brought to trial," he continued. "We hope the truth comes out, so the country's conscience can rest easy," added the former prime minister.
'48 decisive hours'
Former President Michel Sleiman said that "the next 48 hours will be decisive for Lebanon's history," expressing hope that they "will mark the true beginning of a process to save the homeland," in a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA). "Tomorrow marks the grim anniversary of the explosion at the port of Beirut. We hope the indictment in this criminal case will be made public, or that at least, the countdown to its publication will begin."
The teachers' union published a statement for the fifth commemoration of the port explosion, regretting that "the Lebanese state has not done justice for its own people."
"As teachers and educators, we cannot educate new generations on the values of rights and accountability as long as such judicial cases remain stalled by political interference," the statement said.
On the eve of the tragedy's commemoration, Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said Sunday that he listed the Beirut Port silos, devastated by the explosion and the site of a series of fires in 2022, in the general list of historic monuments. Speaking at a conference devoted to the repercussions of the disaster and organized with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed that "anyone responsible will be held accountable."
The Aug. 4 tragedy killed 235 people, wounded more than 7,000, and destroyed a significant part of the capital. Five years later, no one has yet been tried due to political interference in the investigation led by Judge Tarek Bitar.
