This morning, the new investigating judge in the Beirut port explosion case, Judge Tarek Al-Bitar, went to his office at the Beirut Court to review the file in preparation for resuming investigations. It is noted that Judge Al-Bitar will not step back from following the cases that were under his responsibility as president of the Beirut Criminal Court.
Judicial sources confirmed to the newspaper "Al-Akhbar" that Judge Tarek Al-Bitar did not refuse to be an investigating judge in August of last year, but informed the Supreme Judicial Council that this task should not have limitations, stating: "I am not enthusiastic, but if I am assigned this file, I will pursue it to the end." However, the Supreme Judicial Council considered this hesitation and informed the Minister of Justice that Al-Bitar refused to be the investigating judge in the port case. Several judges claimed that some members of the Supreme Judicial Council wanted to displace Al-Bitar, so they distorted his position to appoint Judge Sawwan as the investigating judge instead.
On the other hand, judicial sources affirmed that Judge Al-Bitar's position before the Supreme Judicial Council hinted that he did not want the task, as he stated in the council that if there were no other judges willing to undertake the task, he would accept it. The council members understood this as a refusal, even though Al-Bitar's colleagues reported that he declined because he would not be allowed to achieve justice, and he would not settle for just applying the law if it did not bring justice to the victims' families.
The same scenario occurred yesterday. After the Minister of Justice proposed Al-Bitar's name, he was summoned to the Supreme Judicial Council for consultation, where he informed the attendees of his willingness to take on this task, but that he does not seek the position, and if assigned, he would carry on until the end. In conclusion, the Supreme Judicial Council approved the appointment of Al-Bitar as the new investigating judge yesterday, with an appointment decree to be issued soon.
