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- Karen tarabay
- BBC News Arab Correspondent – Beirut
Image posted, fake images
Less than a month ago, Hassan Diab was Prime Minister who resigned in a state that did not exceed a few months, and afflictions awaited her on all sides.
Today, however, a resigned prime minister heads the provisional government, an accused and a rebel against the judiciary.
Hassan Diab refused to appear before the investigating judge for the crime of bombing the port of Beirut on August 4 last, Fadi Sawan, who had accused Diab and three other former ministers of the crime of negligence and negligence, causing dozens of deaths and hurting hundreds.
I met him at his office in the government palace, the prime minister’s office, and he answered our questions about his accusation of undermining the judiciary and disregarding the rule of law.
“I am never a rebel against the judiciary. Rather, I was the first to receive the investigating judge when he began his investigations and he heard my full testimony. But the prosecution is another matter and is subject to the provisions of the constitution.”
What Diab talks about is matter 70From the constitution that establishes that the House of Representatives has a majority of two thirds of its members to accuse the Prime Minister and the ministers of committing treason or breach of their duties.
In addition, article 71 of the Constitution refers to trying them before the Supreme Council to judge presidents and ministers. Actually, it hasn’t met for decades.
Securing two-thirds of members of Parliament is known to be nearly impossible in light of the political divisions in the country.
“The judge should have sent his file to the House of Representatives and the House is the one who is suing me. As for the issue of securing a third or two-thirds, it is not me who wrote the constitution.
And when I told him that the text of the law did not speak of the exclusivity of parliament to prosecute ministers and prime ministers, which could also allow the judge to take the annexes, he replied: “There are different opinions on this.”
Image posted, AFP
In that testimony, Diab told the investigating judge that one of his advisers had informed him about the seizure of TNT explosives at the port after he happened to learn of the matter.
When arrangements were made to visit Diab at the port based on this information, it was found to be inaccurate and that the materials had not recently been seized, nor were they receiving TNT. Consequently, he canceled his visit and asked the concerned security agencies to end the investigations so that he could take any clear steps.
“Before that, I had never heard of ammonium nitrate.”
Diab says the only official correspondence he received on this matter was on July 22, and the Prime Minister’s office immediately transferred it to the Ministries of Justice and Labor.
Diab insists that he respects the judiciary.
I ask you: But you cooperated with the judiciary before you were charged. After that, I accused him of attacking you.
He answers: “Never. If the investigating judge wants to prosecute me, he must follow the constitutional path.”
He then asks, “Was it I who introduced the ammonium nitrate steamboat in 2005? 2013 To the port of Beirut? Am I responsible for all the port problem? What happens is not normal. “
“I hope I’m not a scapegoat. I don’t know, but my claim is suspect.”
He then adds, saying that he wants to know the truth about the port bombing. But the right questions must be asked. Who was this ship? Who brought it? Who is silent about it?
Diab also refuses to have strengthened his sect after the indictment, when the prosecution considered a target of the prime minister’s office, which is part of the involvement of Sunnis in the country, especially after the mobilization of most of the Sunni political and religious positions in defense of Diab against the prosecution’s decision.
“I am not responsible for the reaction that resulted. I am the prime minister of all Lebanese.”
However, one of the mysteries that still exist regarding the bombing is how it happened, that is, the direct reason that caused the explosion of ammonium nitrate, which was stored seven years ago in one of the port pavilions, on all because a large number of Beirut residents reported hearing the sound of fighter jets. Or the sound of a missile just before the explosion.
Hassan Diab had asked French President Emmanuel Macron to provide Lebanon with satellite images before the bombing and when and after the bombing.
“We have not received anything yet. I am surprised that there is no satellite in the area that has managed to take a picture of what happened at the time of the explosion.”
Today, the investigation into the port bombing case, which is considered one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, is suspended after two indicted ministers, former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former Minister of Works Public Ghazi Zaiter, will file a request to arrest Judge Sawan on “legitimate suspicion” and transfer the investigation to another judge.
This has not yet been decided by the Court of Cassation.
Diab came to the post of prime minister with an academic background after having been a professor of electrical and computer engineering for more than twenty years at the American University of Beirut, and his election to the post came after it was not possible to agree on a first Minister to succeed Saad Hariri, who resigned following the outbreak of popular protests on October 17. General october 2019However, he tendered his resignation only eight months after the port explosion and the disaster that caused it.
Despite its short life, the Diab government faced challenges that may be of unprecedented magnitude, from the total collapse of economic, financial and living conditions, to the Corona pandemic and then the bombing of the port.
“It was forbidden for this government to succeed. This government was an opportunity, but an international decision was made regarding Lebanon to stop cooperating with the country, regardless of Hassan Diab or anyone else.”
To this day, he has spent five months as interim prime minister, and it is feared that this period will be extended further in light of the lack of consensus on a new government amid political divisions.
“I fear it will be a disaster for Lebanon and for the Lebanese.”
