Lebanese lawmakers lift immunity in port blast probe | Beirut Explosion News

Lebanese lawmakers conducted an investigation on Friday Explosion in the port of Beirut, a month before its first anniversary, calls for more evidence to ask former ministers who wanted to waive their immunity.

Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded last August 4 at the port of Beirut, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands and destroying parts of the capital.

It was later revealed that officials had been aware of the explosive device stored safely in the port for many years.

Earlier this month, the main judge in the case, Tareq Bitar, said he had asked for that parliament remove immunity Ali Hasan Khalil is the former finance minister, Ghazi Zaiter is the former minister of public works and Nohad Machnouk is the former interior minister.

Binary said he was investigating possible allegations of “probable intent to kill” and “irresponsibility.”

The Bitarians rejected the request to question General Abbas Ibrahim, the head of the powerful General Security Agency, in a letter to interim Interior Minister Mohamed Fahmy to the Minister of Justice.

In a statement, Ibrahim said he was subject to the law like all Lebanese, but the probe should be conducted “away from narrow political considerations.”

Deputy spokeswoman Elie Ferzli said the parliamentary administration and justice committee met on Friday and decided to “request all the evidence in the investigation and request all the documents proving the suspicions.”

He said the committee will meet again when it responds to decide whether or not to waive immunity.

Lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh said the commission’s request went against the division of power between the judiciary and the legislature, and “violated the confidentiality of the investigation.”

“They’re trying to gain time,” he charged.

Speaking from Beirut, a lawyer representing Ayman Raad, a victim of the blast, told Al Jazeera that Lebanese law stipulates that the judge investigating the blast must obtain permission to question a senior public official.

“The interior minister refused to allow the judge to question General Ibrahim, saying that he believed there was no mistake made by the general,” Raad said.

“It’s a legal option … that the chief prosecutor is asking the head of the court to avoid the minister’s denied permission and to allow the chief investigator to ask the general. That’s all that’s being asked now.

“But because of the politicization of the legal system … I don’t see that happening any time soon,” he said.

‘Shameful’

The hashtag #Lift_immunity_now began to trend in Lebanon as protesters gathered outside the seat of parliament chairman Nabih Berri for a committee meeting.

“Immunity must be lifted immediately,” said Ibrahim Hoteit, a representative of the families of those killed in the blast.

The activist who lost his brother in the disaster said stopping the decision was “embarrassing given the scale of the crime”.

Then, after the protesters marched to the interior ministry to report to the media, the interim minister refused to allow Bitar to question Abbas Ibrahim, the chief intelligence officer, about the explosion.

No statement has been received from the minister’s office.

Ibrahim said he was “not above the law,” but did so against all “political calculations.”

The outgoing prime minister, Hassan Diab, has been implicated in the probe and Bitar has been called in for questioning.

The judge also said he is considering questioning former Public Works Minister Yusef Fenianos.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for a UN investigation into the blast.

He became the chief investigator of the binary explosion earlier, at the request of Judge Fadi Sawan, who was charged with the blast after he was removed from office in February.

Sawan accused the three former ministers and the outgoing prime minister, Hassan Diab, of negligence. But they refused to question him as a suspect, accusing him of exceeding his powers.