Court of Appeals Dismisses Requests to Remove Bitar from Port Case
The Court of Appeals, headed by Judge Nassib Elia, dismissed Monday the requests submitted by MPs Nohad al-Mashnouq, Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoaiter for the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar from the port case.
The Court issued a ruling saying that it has decided to dismiss the removal request for the lack of competence and that the three MPs will be fined LBP 800,000.
The ruling, effective immediately, allows Bitar to "resume investigations this very moment", a court official told AFP.
Bitar had paused his investigation and all procedures linked to the case in response to a complaint filed by Mashnouq after Bitar had called him in for questioning as one of the top officials suspected of negligence ahead of the port explosion.
Zoaiter and Khalil, also suspected of negligence, had later filed a complaint requesting the removal of Bitar.
The suspension of the probe drew widespread criticism from rights groups and relatives of blast victims against political leaders who had already removed a first judge, Fadi Sawan, in February for summoning senior officials.
Bitar is expected to summon the three lawmakers before parliament goes back into session on October 19, after-which they will benefit from political immunity, he said.
Lebanese authorities have repeatedly rejected an international investigation while also hampering a local probe that has yet to identify a single culprit.
Last month, parliament turned down a request by Bitar to interrogate the three lawmakers, arguing that parliamentary officials could only be questioned by a special court.
The United Nations and France both pressed Lebanon to proceed with transparent investigations after the probe was suspended last week.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused authorities of brazen obstruction of justice and callous disregard of victims' families.
The relatives staged a protest on Wednesday warning authorities against a repeat of what happened with Bitar's predecessor Sawan.
