William Noun, released in January 2023 after two days of detention. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP archives)
Zaher Hamadeh, public prosecutor at the Beirut Court of Appeal, filed a lawsuit Monday against William Noun, the brother of one of the victims of the Beirut port explosion, accusing him of defamation and of threatening investigative judge Tarek Bitar, who is in charge of the case.
The complaint followed a speech by Noun during the fifth commemoration of the disaster on Aug. 4, in which he called Hamadeh “pathetic” and warned Bitar that if he were to issue a “trivial” indictment, victims’ relatives would protest outside his home.
Hamadeh’s action against Noun for insulting him personally came as no surprise to the victims’ families. The prosecutor had already detained him for two days in January 2023, after a heated sit-in and a televised threat to blow up the Justice Palace in protest of the stalled investigation. His decision to target remarks directed at Bitar, however, was viewed as “paradoxical.”
Closely aligned with Hezbollah and Amal, Hamadeh is regarded by many victims’ families as opposed to Bitar’s handling of the probe.
No notification
Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, Noun said he learned of the complaint through media reports. He added that he has not yet been officially notified, but confirmed the matter with a source at the palace, adding that he does not know which court received the filing.
Asked why Hamadeh waited more than a month before taking legal action, a victims’ lawyer told L’Orient-Le Jour that he had been on leave during the judicial recess and acted only after his rotation began.
Noun said the judge “is using his final week at the Beirut prosecutor’s office to pursue a case serving a personal objective,” pointing out that Hamadeh had just been appointed public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in southern Lebanon as part of judicial reshuffling.
During his speech on Aug. 4, Noun addressed Judge Hamadeh directly. “You put us in prison [in January 2023], a pathetic figure like you, a crooked politician who takes orders and humiliates victims’ families,” he said, stressing that “they are not obliged to endure such offensive political behavior.”
Addressing Judge Bitar, Noun said: “Everyone here will be at the door of your home if the indictment you issue does not tell us how all the victims were killed, and if it limits itself to a story about welding on the door of the hangar that contained the ammonium nitrate behind the explosions, without telling us who brought in the nitrate, who protected it, who transported part of it, who profited from it and who detonated it.”
Hamadeh described these remarks as threats against Bitar, a claim Noun rejected, saying his words carried “no threat.”
Noun pointed to the “lack of reaction” from the Beirut appellate prosecutor when Hezbollah Security Chief Wafic Safa went to the palace in September 2021 and threatened to “remove” the investigative judge.
“Why did Zaher Hamadeh not file a complaint then?” he asked.
A victims’ lawyer told L’Orient-Le Jour that the mobilization that Noun referred to in the event of an inadequate indictment was “legitimate.”
“Far from being a crime, demonstrating is a right, even a duty, for the parents of victims who are paying the highest price,” he said, stressing that Noun “did not threaten to burn or destroy anything.” He added, “If the indictment does not meet expectations, it is not only the families of the victims who should protest, but all Lebanese.”
He said that “if Judge Bitar wanted to take legal action against William Noun, he would have done so himself.” He added, “It is unthinkable that he would act against a victim’s relative when he has not filed a complaint against those who truly insulted and threatened him,” in reference to the Hezbollah camp.
About 20 days ago, Noun himself was targeted by a request for a judicial inquiry filed by a lawyer close to Hezbollah, over remarks seen as “an attack on sectarian coexistence and a violation of the boycott law against Israel.” He was questioned by the Court of Cassation’s prosecutor, Sabbouh Sleiman, who later released him on bail pending verification of residence.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour by Sahar Ghoussoub.
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