The investigating judge in charge of the case of the double explosion at the Beirut Port, Tarek Bitar. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The investigating judge overseeing the Beirut Port explosion case, Judge Tarek Bitar, has been summoned to appear in court on Nov. 4 in the lawsuit filed against him by former public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, a source from the Beirut Palace of Justice told L'Orient Today.
Bitar was summoned to this hearing by ad hoc investigating judge Habib Rizkallah, who is to consider the case concerning legal proceedings brought by Oueidat against Bitar.
Oueidat had filed a complaint against Bitar in January 2023 for “usurpation of power.” Bitar, in turn, brought charges against other officials, including Oueidat.
Bitar had decided shortly before this to resume his investigation, which was blocked by legal appeals filed by officials who themselves were implicated in the probe into the causes of the Aug. 4, 2020 double explosion. The dangers of the improperly stored ammonium nitrate that exploded that day had been reported to the authorities on multiple occasions beforehand.
The double explosion at the Beirut Port, one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in modern history, devastated the capital, killed at least 235 people and injured thousands.
