Argentina has the Mothers of the Place de Mai, who tirelessly demand the truth about the fate of their children who disappeared during the military dictatorship. In Russia, it is a collective of punkettes, the Pussy Riot, which makes a mockery of the Putin regime.
In Lebanon too, women are at the forefront of the fight. Week after week, the women’s association Noun has imposed its peaceful presence for a year, without illusion but with confidence despite everything, so that light is shed on the deadly explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that occurred on August 4, 2020 at the port of Beirut. A tragedy that left more than 200 dead and 6,500 injured and devastated entire districts of the capital.
In a highly flammable country, these pasionarias met on November 17 in front of the gates of the Courthouse. “We are not trying to attack you, but to defend all the Lebanese against this regime which killed its people …”, proclaimed one of the leaders, Elise Bassil, 59, questioning the president of the Supreme Judicial Council, Souheil Abboud, before taking several judges to task: “End the system of impunity… Judge for the people and not for the system! “
A few weeks earlier, these same women had sealed, with red wax, the door of a magistrate suspected of slowing down the investigation of Judge Tarek Bitar, responsible for investigating the case, despite a violent policy of intimidation carried out by the Hezbollah.
It is for a birthday
Aged between 20 and 60, these students, housewives, traders, pharmacists and lawyers give voice, ignoring guns, mocking intimidating stature and vehicles with tinted windows, external signs of testosterone. They met in the streets of Beirut in October 2019, during an unprecedented popular uprising against the Lebanese political class, accused of corruption and negligence.
“If those responsible are not punished in this case, there will be no hope for justice in this country. »Elvia Saghbini, member of the Noun collective
Tied on the pavement, their bond was reinforced after the tragedy of the port. On November 20, 2020, seated around a coffee, they are a dozen to rail against this caste which gags justice. “We feared political pressure to slow down or stifle the investigation”, says Paola Rebeiz, fashion and communication consultant. Suddenly, one of them comes up with a crazy idea: to pay an unexpected visit to Judge Fadi Sawan, then in charge of the investigation and since replaced by Judge Tarek Bitar.
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