judge Bitar refuses to step down from Beirut Port blast probe

The chief judicial investigator in the Beirut port explosion, Judge Tariq Al-Bitar, confirmed, in an interview with the “LBCI” channel, that “I will not leave the port file, and what the c of Cassation did is contrary to the law, since he recused himself from the port file and is a defendant before me, and he is not entitled to take decisions to release the detainees .” They are detained in a file under consideration by the investigating judge.”

Judge Ghassan Oweidat , (who recluse himself from the port investigation file in 2020 due to link to one of the top suspects in the explosion , his brother-in-law former minister Ghazi Zaiter , a close ally of Hezbollah) , sent the head of the Central Investigation Department and his assistant to the house of Judge Tariq Al-Bitar to summon him to appear before him but Al-Bitar refused to receive the summon

Protest in front of judge Oweidat’s home against the release of the jailed suspects in the port blast

Earlier today Judge Bitar, confirmed to Al-Jadeed channel that “any response by the security forces to Oweidat’s decision to release the detainees would be tantamount to a coup against the law,” noting that “Only the judicial investigator has the right to issue release decisions, and therefore Ghassan Oweidat’s decision has no legal value.”

Protest continues in front of Oweidat’s home

The moves by Oweidat signal escalating opposition by Lebanon’s corrupt ruling establishment to efforts by Judge Bitar to reopen the probe into the Aug. 4, 2020 blast that killed more than 245 people.