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Fadi Sawan, the judicial investigator in the Beirut port bombing case, suspended investigations for 10 days after two former ministers, accusing them of having part of responsibility for the blast, filed a memorandum requesting that the case be transferred to another judge.
The two former ministers, Ali Hassan Khalil (Finance) and Ghazi Zuaiter (Jobs), were absent yesterday from an interrogation before the investigator, Sawan, and said that they had not been officially informed of the session, at a time when the judge set a new date to hear them.
On the tenth of this month, Sawan pleaded guilty to interim Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers, Khalil Zuaiter, and Youssef Fenianos (former Minister of Public Works), accused of negligence, negligence and causing hundreds of deaths. in the port explosion.
It should be noted that Zuaiter and Khalil presented on Wednesday a request to transfer Judge Sawan’s port complaint to another judge for “legitimate suspicion”, which will stop the progress of the investigations now, until the Court of Cassation decides on the request for transfer. 3/4
– Megaphone (@megaphone_news) December 17, 2020
Accusing the judge
Zuaiter and Khalil, close to the president of the Parliament Nabih Berri, presented a memorandum to the Prosecutor’s Office for Cassation, requesting that the case be transferred to another judge, after accusing Sawan of violating the constitution by claiming against two former ministers and two deputies of Parliament .
The French Press Agency quoted a judicial source as saying that the request of the two former ministers was referred to the Criminal Court of Cassation, adding that “all parties to the lawsuit, from the accusation of cassation to the judicial investigator and the college of attorneys with their agency for the plaintiffs affected by the blast have 10 days to respond to this memorandum.
Consequently, the judicial investigator suspended the investigation procedures for the port explosion until the Court of Cassation resolved the request to transfer the case, and consequently, a session that Judge Sawan had scheduled on Friday to interrogate Diab was canceled. , who did not appear in a first session last Monday.
The authorities are investigating the explosion that occurred on August 4, and attributed it to the storage of large quantities of ammonium nitrate for years in a port terminal without preventive measures, and it was found that officials at various levels were aware of the dangers of storing it without moving one finger.
The explosion caused the deaths of more than 200 people, the injuries of more than 6,500 and the displacement of tens of thousands of Lebanese, and the incident fueled the anger of the angry street against the entire political class, accusing it of corruption and negligence, and now he also holds her responsible for the disaster of the explosion. Ongoing investigations led to the arrest of more than 25 people responsible for the management and security of the port.
I have many observations about Investigator Fadi Sawan, the most important of which is that he knows that he has arrested junior officers who carried out all his duties in the port explosion.
And if in his opinion they were really responsible, he should also file a complaint against the heads of the agencies.
و .لا
How can you jump to prosecution at the head of the government, Hassan Diab, before claiming all the heads under Diab?– Major General Jamil Al-Sayed (@jamil_el_sayyed) December 12, 2020
Hassan diab
After the judiciary was indicted last week, the acting prime minister said he was clear of conscience regarding his handling of the blast file, adding in a statement that he had “confidence” in his clean hand and handling. “Responsible and transparent” of the Beirut port explosion file, and that he was surprised by this goal that exceeds The person came to the site and that he would not allow either party to attack the Prime Minister’s position.
Former Finance Minister Khalil said he had no role in the blast, and the ministry, which carried his bag from 2014 to early 2020, oversees customs. As for Zuaiter, he described as a flagrant violation the accusation of the Judicial Power that he was negligent in the explosion of the port, and that he had carried out public works in 2014, shortly after the arrival of the ship carrying ammonium nitrate to the port of Beirut.
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