Beirut blast probe judge allowed to resume investigation
Tarek Bitar, the lead judicial investigator into the Beirut port blast, will be allowed to resume his work thanks to a ruling on Tuesday from a Lebanese court. The investigation had been halted for more than a month due to legal disputes from former officials charged in the case.
Bitar's attempts to question past and present Lebanese officials on suspicion of negligence over the August 2020 explosion have been consistently blocked by the country's political class.
Earlier this year, former Lebanese officials, including one-time finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil and public works minister Ghazi Zaiter, mounted legal complaints against being officially questioned in the probe.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has likewise called on Bitar to be replaced, accusing him of being biased and politicised.
Those claims, by the leader of the Iran-backed group, have further inflamed Lebanon's fractious government, preventing Prime Minister Najib Mikati's cabinet from meeting since October.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
The Beirut port blast destroyed large swaths of the Mediterranean city and left more than 200 dead, exacerbating Lebanon's already dire economic crisis and laying bare for many the corruption inside the country's government.
The judicial probe into the explosion, one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts ever recorded, has so far made little progress, angering many Lebanese citizens, including families of the victims. To date, the investigation is yet to publicly identify a single culprit.
Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawan, was removed as the lead judge in February after a former official charged with negligence filed a complaint against him.
Activists and human rights groups have condemned the repeated suspensions of Bitar's work as an attempt by politicians to evade justice and derail the official inquiry.
"They have reversed the decision that had led to the suspension of the probe and he can now resume his work for sure," Nizar Saghieh, head of The Legal Agenda, a research and advocacy organisation, told Reuters.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
