Bitar to question Grechushkin in Bulgaria after Hajjar lifts his travel ban
State Prosecutor Jamal al-Hajjar has lifted the travel ban imposed on Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar to allow him to travel to Bulgaria to question Igor Grechushkin -- the Russian-Cypriot owner of the ship that brought the ammonium nitrates that eventually exploded at the port, MTV said.
The development comes a day after a Bulgaria court refused to extradite Grechushkin, arguing that Lebanon has not provided guarantees that, if he were sentenced to death, the sentence would not be carried out.
The ruling can be appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal, whose decision will be final, and the suspect will remain in custody until then.
But An-Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday that “Lebanon did offer guarantees that the death sentence would not be implemented,” adding that “the Bulgarian court considered that insufficient and decided not to extradite him to Lebanon while agreeing to Judge Tarek Bitar’s request to interrogate him.”
According to the daily, Bitar will travel to Bulgaria next week.
The blast on August 4, 2020 was one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions, destroying swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
Grechushkin, who was arrested in September at Sofia airport, is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of "introducing explosives into Lebanon -- a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people -- (and) disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship," according to Bulgarian prosecutors.
Authorities in Lebanon say the 2020 explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.
A Lebanese investigation into the blast was long bogged down by legal and political wrangling.
Those questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.
Source: Naharnet
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