Sawan brandishes measures against Diab and the ministers in case they refrain from appearing before him

As soon as the judicial investigator in the Beirut port bombing case, Judge Fadi Sawan, was informed that the Acting Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, and three former ministers, refused to appear before him for questioning as accused of negligence and negligence, until he raised the level of his challenge and rushed to set new dates for his interrogation, with the intention of taking the legal procedures investigated by the investigation against him, which will be announced in his moment.
It should be noted that Judge Sawan contradicted the expectations of many, who preferred to follow the option of stepping aside, as an informed judicial source confirmed to Al-Sharq al-Awsat that the judicial investigator “did not request a new appointment to the prime minister. But he rushed to make an appointment at nine in the morning. Next Friday, to interrogate Diab at his official residence “, indicating that Sawan” applies the text of article 85 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which obliges the investigating judge to personally go to the headquarters of the President of the Republic, the Speaker Parliament and the Prime Minister, when the matter requires a hearing. To them or to question them in any exhibition, the judicial file ».
The judicial investigator also set new dates for the former ministers, since he summoned the former Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, to an interrogation session tomorrow, Wednesday, and the former Minister of Development, Youssef Fenianos, to an investigation session on Thursday, and the former Minister of Public Works, Ghazi Zaiter, to a similar session next Friday. .
It does not seem that the list of the prosecutor’s office of ministers and politicians stops at the four names, and the judicial source clarified that Judge Sawan “will question the aforementioned officials based on the suspicions that are available against them of having committed a crime. criminal offense, and not with regard to their political responsibilities related to the failure to perform their job functions, which are the competence of Parliament. And the Supreme Council to judge presidents and ministers.
He stated that “if the prime minister refuses to receive Judge Sawan this time, and in the event that the aforementioned ministers refuse to appear before him again, he will not hesitate to make the decision required by the investigation, including a summons or warrant for detention in absentia, or include the accusation for the crimes they committed and refer them to the Council. Adli without arrest, “noting that” prosecutions may not be limited to just President Hassan Diab and the three ministers, but will include all those who have evidence of a role for them for negligence and negligence and causing the death of innocent people. “
The list of subpoenas appears to be long and is nominated to include military and security officers. After the Director General of State Security, Major General Tony Saliba, was questioned as a defendant last week, Judge Sawan decided to conduct an interview between Saliba and the Major of the State Security Service, Joseph Al-Naddaf (detained in the file) next Thursday, as well as The judicial investigator summoned the former Chief of Staff of the Lebanese Army, Major General Walid Salman, to an investigative session and questioned him on Wednesday.
At this time, the judicial investigator yesterday received a letter from the Secretary General of Parliament, Adnan Daher, in response to the complaint against parliamentarians Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zuaiter. Sources familiar with the content of the letter revealed to Al-Sharq al-Awsat that the Secretary General of Parliament “informed the judicial investigator that he committed a clear violation of Article 40 of the Constitution, by claiming deputies without the approval of Parliament.” Sources said that Sawan “is in the process of responding to this book, and confirms that he is persecuting the aforementioned parliamentarians for criminal offenses committed during their ministerial mandates, and does not persecute them as representatives, especially from the text The constitutional article is clear and it’s self explanatory.
Article 40 stipulates that “it is not allowed during the session to take criminal measures against any member of the Council, nor to arrest him if he commits a crime without the permission of the Council, except in the case of flagrante delicto (flagrante delicto).”
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, announced that he would withdraw from continuing with the investigation of the port explosion file in his capacity as judicial prosecutor in the case, due to the existence of a relationship between him and the former minister, Representative Ghazi Zuaiter (married to Oweidat’s sister), who was alleged by the court investigator, Judge Fadi. granite.
The Lebanese National Media Agency stated that, according to the law, the authority to carry out investigations into the role of the prosecutor in the file rests with the discriminatory prosecutor, Judge Ghassan El-Khoury, who will follow up on the investigation. of the matter related to the public prosecutor.