05-05-2025
Families of victims praise 'positive dynamic, great progress' in investigation
The association of the families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020, explosion at the port of Beirut, which meets every fourth of the month to demand justice, praised in a statement on Sunday "a positive dynamic and great progress in the port case." Signs of this dynamic include Investigative Judge at the Court of Justice Tarek Bitar, who has for the first time questioned politicians in April: former minister Nouhad Machnouk on April 17 and former Prime Minister Hassan Diab on April 25.
"On this 57th month since the explosion at the port of Beirut, the truth remains captive, justice confiscated, and the criminals are free," lamented the statement, as the judicial investigation aimed at determining the responsibilities for this tragedy, which claimed the lives of 235 people and injured more than 6,500 others, has not yet concluded.
Renewing the call to shed full light on this tragedy and for "the independence of the Lebanese judiciary," the association reminds "all those who promised to deliver justice – the President of the Republic Joseph Aoun, the Justice Minister Adel Nasser, the Prime Minister Nawaf Salam – that we have indeed perceived a positive dynamic and a great progress in the port case."
The families had already praised in March Tarek Bitar, who took a decisive initiative in mid-January to continue his investigations by prosecuting 12 security officials and port officials, summoned for hearings that began on Feb. 7.
"To investigative judge Tarek Bitar, we say, the prayers of the mothers accompany your steps. And we remind those obstructing that the blood of our children is not a tool for political maneuvering, and that history will not forgive the accomplices, whether they wear an official uniform or a diplomat's tie! All are under the authority of the law," continued the families, before concluding on the necessity to complete the investigation in order to pay tribute "to the victims, to the martyrs and to the homeland."
