As the second anniversary of the port explosion approaches, the presence of the investigating judge at his office in the Justice Palace in Beirut yesterday drew attention after a forced break of more than six months, specifically since the suspension of his investigations on December 23 following the receipt of a request for his recusal from the case by MPs Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil. It became clear that Judge Al-Bitar came to the office at the request of the Court of Cassation to inform him of the content of new recusal lawsuits filed against him. High judicial sources quoted by the investigating judge emphasized that, in parallel with adhering to judicial procedures which necessitate suspending his investigations due to recusal and conflict lawsuits, he will remain determined to complete his mission "until the last moment," regardless of the difficulties and obstacles, and "he will not back down or step aside from this mission."
The high judicial sources explained to "New Lebanon" that Judge Al-Bitar is still waiting for Finance Minister Youssef Khalil to sign the decree to complete the formation of the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation "in preparation for deciding on the lawsuits for transfer and recusal, which has now reached 35 lawsuits despite the fact that the majority of them have not been accepted, so that he can subsequently resume his investigations from where they left off." They expressed hope that "matters would witness a swift resolution positively impacting the course of the investigation, especially since the investigating judge is determined to assume his responsibilities and proceed with the investigation, contrary to what is rumored about blaming him for a failure in his mission. Everyone is aware that the period during which the consideration of the file was suspended is out of his control, as he was forced not to exercise his duties by law due to the procedures filed against him that necessitated his temporary recusal."
While refusing to draw any scenarios or possibilities for the future of the judicial investigation into the crime, judicial sources stressed "the necessity of expediting the resumption of the investigation in order to conclude it and to hold the Lebanese judiciary accountable for its responsibilities and to fulfill its role in such a massive crime, assigning responsibility to those who must bear it, as this is the most important." Based on this, they called for "waiting for the indictment decision that Judge Al-Bitar will issue, which he will be fully responsible for."
Al-Bitar was informed yesterday, upon attending his office, of the content of the recusal request filed against him by the Director General of Customs Badri Daher, in addition to a joint request for the transfer of the file from his charge filed by both the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Beirut Port Investment, the detained defendant Hassan Qreitem, and the port security officer, the detained defendant Muhammad Ziad Al-Awf. Additionally, a joint transfer request was submitted by the owner of the Shibli Maintenance Corporation, the detained defendant Selim Shibli, along with his workers, and a transfer request was made by the port director, the detained defendant Muhammad Al-Mawl.
