Six months later, the investigation did not provide any answer on the responsibilities and the precise circumstances of the gigantic explosion of August 4 which left more than 200 dead and devastated part of Beirut. And there is provisionally no longer a judge to lead the investigations into the double explosion in the port of the Lebanese capital: Fadi Sawan, the magistrate in charge, was challenged by the Court of Cassation on Thursday February 18. This decision caused a strong stir in a country still traumatized, and swept into an economic and political precipice.
Mr. Sawan’s fate had been suspended since he dared to implicate, in December, three former ministers as well as the outgoing head of government, Hassan Diab, accused of “Negligence and causing the death of hundreds of people”. The latter had refused to be questioned by the magistrate and Mr. Diab had even taken refuge in his home to avoid a summons. Two of the former ministers indicted had lodged an appeal to obtain the head of the judge: Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, deputies of the Amal party (the formation of the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri).
According to the verdict that leaked to the media, their arguments were accepted: because Mr. Sawan himself suffered property damage in the explosion, he “It will be difficult for him to remain objective”, considers the Court of Cassation, an organ which is not immune to political influence; and because he had warned that no immunity existed in the face of the magnitude of what the Lebanese had suffered on August 4, he would have “Explicitly stated that he was not going to take into account the laws determining immunities”. The first criterion was denounced by Melhem Khalaf, the President of Beirut, believing that all the judges were “Affected” speak “Crime” port clerk.
A “terrible” message
Carrying portraits of their loved ones killed in the blast, letting out tears or anger, a handful of families of victims gathered on Thursday in front of the Beirut courthouse. “Today you are inflicting a new explosion on us”, launched a protester to the political class. They have been mobilizing for months to demand justice and truth, in a country subscribed to impunity. “The message sent to the families of victims and to the judges is terrible, deplores the lawyer Nizar Saghieh, director of the legal NGO Legal Agenda. The decision is in the same direction as the political discourse: immunities cannot be overridden, and any judge who dares to prosecute a politician will meet the same fate as Fadi Sawan: he will be dismissed. “
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