Former ministers and current MPs Ali Hassan Khalil (right) and Ghazi Zeaiter. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Officials implicated in the Beirut port blast investigation filed three lawsuits Monday in relation to the Beirut port probe seeking to invalidate previous judicial decisions in the case.
Here's what we know:
• Former ministers and current MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter filed a suit before the Public Prosecution seeking to invalidate a decision issued by the Civil Court of Cassation judges not to inform the investigator Tarek Bitar of a request submitted by the plaintiffs to remove him. Had Bitar been officially notified of the filing, it would have automatically halted the investigation until a ruling was made.
• Meanwhile, a lawyer representing former minister Youssef Fenianos, filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of Judge Rosine Hujaili, a counselor at the Beirut Court of Appeals, responsible for looking into requests to dismiss Bitar, a judicial source told L’Orient Today.
• According to the NNA, The Coalition for Independent Judiciary also filed a lawsuit on Monday. The group filed a complaint against Judge Habib Mezher of the Court of Appeals for “violating the fundamental principles of law enforcement,” after he suspended Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe last week.
• MP Nohad Machnouk and former Prime Minister Hassan Diab filed similar suits to those filed by Khalil and Zeaiter last month, in an attempt to halt Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the probe.