
Aug. 4 Investigation: The five-year mark
In an early morning statement, President Joseph Aoun said the Lebanese state and 'all its institutions' are committed to uncovering the truth about the disaster, 'regardless of the obstacles or the rank of those involved.'
'Justice knows no exceptions, and the law applies to everyone without distinction,' he said.
But has anything been achieved since Aug. 4, 2020? We break down five years of stalled investigations.
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L'Orient-Le Jour
10 hours ago
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William Noun summoned over 'sectarian incitement' and 'alleged violation of Israel boycott law'
The Central Criminal Investigation Department summoned activist William Noun, brother of a victim of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut Port explosion, for questioning on Tuesday at noon at the Justice Palace, following a complaint accusing him of inciting sectarian strife and violating Lebanon's law on dealings with Israel, Noun told L'Orient Today Friday. The complaint, sent to L'Orient Today by Noun on Friday, was filed by Hassan Ibrahim, a lawyer reportedly close to Hezbollah, after a speech Noun delivered during the fifth anniversary commemoration of the Beirut port explosion on Aug. 4. Speaking to L'Orient Today Friday, Noun said: "They accused me of sympathizing with Israel, which isn't even true because I didn't even use the word Israel. And if I were to mention it, I would mention it negatively. Accusing me of collaborating with Israel is something funny. Inciting sectarian violence is part of what they have said against me." L'Orient Today viewed the video of his remarks and was able to confirm that Noun did not mention Israel. The complaint alleges that during his speech, audience members began chanting 'Hezbollah is a terrorist organization,' to which Noun responded that "there is no one left of them," in apparent reference to losses Hezbollah suffered during its 2024 war with Israel. According to the plaintiff, Noun was 'clearly alluding to the resistance's 5,000 martyrs who fell during the Israeli war against Lebanon.' At the end of his speech, Noun said, 'Just because Hassan Nasrallah has died doesn't mean all his sins are forgiven.' In his complaint, Ibrahim argued that Noun 'expressed dangerous empathy with the Israeli enemy, provoking the popular base of the resistance, which makes up at least half of the Lebanese population, among whom it is rare to find a family that has not offered a martyr during the brutal aggression that Lebanon endured.' Ibrahim said that this statement referred to 'Hezbollah martyrs who were killed during the war and after the cease-fire on Nov. 27, which Israel is not abiding by.' On his Facebook page, Ibrahim added, "Those martyrs are our friends, relatives, and school friends, and their legacy should be respected," alongside a photo of the complaint. The complaint accuses Noun of making inflammatory remarks at a sensitive national moment, stating that his comments "incite sectarian and partisan divisions," particularly given his different sectarian background from those he criticized. It further claims his language "resembles that of the Israeli enemy" and violates Lebanon's boycott law. The filing also pointed to Noun's affiliation with a political group critical of Hezbollah, suggesting he supports a 'hostile approach to the resistance,' and warns that accusing Hezbollah of involvement in the port explosion is a 'serious and dangerous' allegation that could undermine civil peace.


L'Orient-Le Jour
14 hours ago
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Sheikh al-Assir supporters protest in Saida demanding his release
Dozens of supporters of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and families of the detained from the Abra events held a sit-in this afternoon, following Friday prayers, in front of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in the town of Abra, east of Saida, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region reported. The protesters carried banners, some of which read: "Free them" and "Save the prisoners." Local activist, Mohammad al-Shamieh delivered a speech during the sit-in, in which he affirmed that the protest actions will continue until the release of Sheikh al-Assir and his companions. Assir was sentenced on Aug. 21, 2021 by the military court to 20 years of hard labor for fighting the Lebanese army in Bhanine in North Lebanon in 2014. A death sentence had already been handed down in 2017 against the Sunni preacher, arrested for the clashes that took place in June 2013 in Abra between Islamists he led and the Lebanese army. 18 soldiers and 11 militiamen were killed in these fights. His companions were sentenced to ten years of hard labor. Assir, who was on the run, was arrested at Beirut airport on Aug. 15, 2015. Having changed his physical appearance, he was almost unrecognizable at the time. He was carrying a fake passport and was trying to flee to Egypt. His relatives and other Islamist detainees regularly demonstrate to demand an amnesty.


L'Orient-Le Jour
14 hours ago
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Lebanon was working on disarmament plan before US proposal, Nassar says
Justice Minister Adel Nassar stated Friday that "the Lebanese government was already working on a plan to withdraw Hezbollah's weapons even before the presentation of the American proposal," stating that "any weapon outside the framework of official authorities is contrary to the Constitution and laws, and this is not a matter of debate or opinion." His remarks, in an interview with the Amman-based Al-Ghad TV channel reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), came as Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Friday in very forceful terms that the party would not give up its weapons as long as Israel continued its attacks. Qassem also warned the Lebanese government of a confrontation if it persisted in the decision made on Aug. 5 to set a timetable for disarmament, in accordance with an American proposal that also calls for the withdrawal of Israel from territories its army occupies in Lebanon. This proposal was relayed by envoy Tom Barrack, who visited Beirut several times at the start of the summer to promote it. Not 'suicide' In response to Hezbollah's position that handing over its weapons would be "suicide," a statement made earlier this week by the head of the party's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, Nassar argued that "the real suicide lies in the choice of unilateral adventurism that has led to military confrontations, causing martyrs and destruction." This was a direct criticism of Hezbollah's decision on Oct. 8, 2023, to open a front in southern Lebanon in support of Gaza. The opening of this front led to over a year of confrontations, which escalated into near-total war in the last three months before the imperfect cease-fire was reached at the end of last November. "The choice of the state is the guarantor for everyone, and the conditions in the Middle East are evolving, which requires vigilance from all," the minister added. "Hezbollah cannot consider handing over its weapons as suicide, especially since it signed on to the decisions of the ministerial statement," drafted in the wake of the Nawaf Salam government's orientation earlier in the year, Nassar added. "A lawmaker who is a partner in the government cannot tell it 'do what you want'; partners are expected to help build the state, not block it," he said, while stressing that he "does not believe any political party in Lebanon wants to provoke a confrontation with the Lebanese Army." Nassar stated that "the Lebanese Army has begun extensively recovering Hezbollah's weapons south of the Litani and has started inventorying weapons north of the Litani." He added that "all political components, including Hezbollah, will eventually respect the project of state-building, and that Lebanon will not be pushed toward new adventures or internal conflict."