The investigative judge, Fadi Suwan, was informed this morning upon arriving at his office of the Court of Cassation's decision to dismiss him from the Beirut port blast case. The Attorney General of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Khoury, referred the decision to the caretaker Minister of Justice, Marie-Claude Najm, and to Judge Suwan himself.
Firas Press agency reported that the Court of Cassation in Lebanon has dismissed Judge Suwan from the investigations into the devastating port explosion, a move criticized by human rights organizations due to its clear political pressures, especially since the investigation has not yet produced any results six months after the tragedy. A judicial source told AFP, "The Court of Cassation, presided over by Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, decided to transfer the file of the Beirut port blast investigations from Judge Suwan to another unnamed judge."
Suwan's dismissal today threatens to return the investigations to square one, while the authorities are under increasing pressure to reveal the results of the investigation into the blast that occurred on August 4, killing more than 200 people and injuring 6,500 others, along with destroying several neighborhoods in the capital. Suwan was appointed on August 13 to investigate the Beirut port explosion, which the authorities attributed to the storage of huge quantities of ammonium nitrate for years in one of the port’s warehouses without safety measures. It was found that officials at various political, security, and judicial levels were aware of the dangers of storing it without taking action.
On December 10, Suwan charged caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers: former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former Public Works Ministers Ghazi Zaiter and Youssef Fenianos. However, none of them appeared before him in the sessions set for questioning them as "accused." The indictment of these four officials sparked objections from political entities, including the designated Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah. Following this, both Zaiter and Khalil submitted a memorandum to the Public Prosecutor's office requesting the case be transferred to another judge, accusing Suwan of violating the constitution by indicting two former ministers and two members of parliament, while these officials enjoy constitutional immunity and their prosecution should be passed through the Parliament, according to opponents of the indictment decision.
