Judge Tarek Bitar was appointed lead investigator into the Beirut Port blast ( background ) after the removal of his predecessor Judge Fadi Sawwan in February, 2021 . The background of Bitar’s picture shows the huge silos of Beirut Port that exploded on Aug 4 , 2020, killing some 220 people , injured about 7000 and left 300, 000 homeless after 2,750 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate that were illegally stored exploded .
Judge Tarek al-Bitar the chief judicial investigator of Beirut port explosion charged on Thursday 10 new suspects in the case Al-Jadeed TV reported .
Al-Jadeed identified the suspects as port employees Marwan Kaaki and Mohammad Qassabiyeh, the security official in charge of Hangar 12 , Rabih Srour, Customs chief , Brig. Gen. Raymond Khoury, Customs officer, Brig. Gen. Adel Francis, General Security officer, Brig. Gen. Najm al-Ahmadiyeh, former General Security officers Munah Sawaya and Mohammad Hassan Mouqalled, Lebanese Army brig. gen. Marwan Eid , and former army intelligence chief brig. gen. Edmond Fadel.
Bitar also scheduled interrogation sessions for Higher Customs Council member Gracia Azzi and former Higher Customs Council chief Brig. Gen. Asaad Tufaili, according to the report.
“The interrogation sessions will begin on February 7 and will be held over three phases during the months of March and April prior to the issuance of indictments,” Al-Jadeed added.
Bitar’s resumption of his investigations “was decided on September 18 but was postponed due to the Israeli -Hezbollah war .
Neither the the postponement , nor the recent charges and interrogations are linked to the political transformations,” al-Jadeed reported.
According to media reports, a meeting was held recently at the office of Higher Judicial Council chief Judge Suheil Abboud, in the presence of Bitar and State Prosecutor Jamal al-Hajjar, that tackled the case and the mechanism for summoning suspects for interrogation.
The reports added that Bitar has decided to rely on judicial clerks in sending out the subpoenas rather on security agencies, which are under the authority of Jamal Hajjar.
Hajjar reportedly refused to cooperate with Bitar, citing the lawsuit filed by Oueidat against Bitar.
Bitar had postponed all interrogations in June 2023 due to the “lack of cooperation” from the prosecutor’s office, without setting new dates.
“There are charges accusing me of usurping power that must be resolved,” he said. If these charges “are proven, then I must be held to account, and if the contrary happens, then I must continue the investigation,” Bitar argued at the time.
Judge Tarek Bitar was appointed lead investigator into the Beirut Port blast after the removal of his predecessor Judge Fadi Sawwan in February, 2021 . The Beirut Port explosion of Aug 4 , 2020 resulted in the killing of about 220 people , injured about 7000 and left 300, 000 homeless after 2,750 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate Exploded.
They were stored there for nearly 7 years , reportedly for use by the Syrian regime in its barrel bombs against the civilians in Syria.
Former President Michel Aoun and former PM Hassan Diab were informed about the explosive chemical 2 weeks before the explosion, but did nothing about it . Hezbollah and its allies successfully blocked the investigation and campaigned for months to get the courageous judge fired from his position like they did to his predecessor . The Lebanese government , the presidency and the parliament leadership were all at the time controlled by Hezbollah . The Iran backed group was reportedly concerned over exposing its role in supplying the Syrian government with the explosive chemical.