Bulgaria adjourns extradition hearing for Beirut blast shipowner

A Bulgarian court on Monday adjourned an extradition hearing for the shipowner wanted over the devastating Aug. 4, 2020, blast at Beirut port, asking Lebanon to confirm he would not face the death penalty.

The judges stated they considered statements from Lebanese authorities on the matter to be too vague, a spokeswoman for the Sofia court told AFP on Monday, prompting the adjournment.

Lebanon wants Bulgaria to extradite Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot, over the blast — one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions — which destroyed swathes of the Lebanese capital, killed more than 220 people and injured more than 6,500.

Grechushkin, who was arrested on Sept. 5 at Sofia airport, is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of "introducing explosives into Lebanon — a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people, disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship," according to Bulgarian prosecutors.

The court in Sofia decided on Monday to adjourn the extradition hearing until Dec. 10, pending a response from Beirut.

President Joseph Aoun, who was in Sofia on Monday, told reporters there: "We remain steadfast in our determination to uncover the circumstances and shed light on the truth."

He stressed "the importance of judicial and criminal cooperation" between Bulgaria and Lebanon.

Authorities in Lebanon say the port blast was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.

A Lebanese investigation into the blast has been repeatedly impeded by legal and political wrangling. Judge Tarek Bitar resumed the probe earlier this year.

Those questioned in the investigation include former Prime Minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.