Lebanese judge fails to arrest ex-ministers accused of Beirut bombing
In what is a high-profile scandal in the country, Lebanon’s top court suspended the arrest warrants against prominent politicians accused of being complicit in the Beirut blast, according to ABC News
In August 2020, a major bomb attack shocked the country as over 200 were killed and over 6,000 were wounded. It was also reported back then that the explosion caused billions of dollars worth of damages as well as shattering most of the Lebanese capital.
The 2020 blast was one of the globe’s biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.
Amidst an investigation into the incident, former Transportation Minister Youssef Fenianos and current MP Ali Hassan Khalil, had their warrants quashed by Judge Sabbouh Suleiman of the Court of Cassation, judicial officers noted under the condition of anonymity.
Scandal-ridden Fenianos served as the Transportation Minister from December 2016 to January 2020 and was later sanctioned by the US Treasury under the Magnitsky Act for “corrupt practices” as well as “leveraging political power for financial gain”.
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A former Minister of Finance and current lawmaker, Khalil, 59, has a decade-long experience in the cabinet, first serving as Minister of Agriculture from 2003 to 2004, then becoming Health Minister from 2011 to 2014 before finally being appointed Finance Minister following a 2014 cabinet reshuffle. He was in post until January 2020.
The MP represents the Amal Movement, a nationalist opposition party and militia affiliated with the Shia community of Lebanon, aligned, to some extent to Hezbollah.
A year after the turmoil in Beirut, Judge Tarek Bitar, who is at the forefront of the investigation into the blast, had issued warrants against the pair who he accused of intentional killing and negligence which caused the deaths of over 100 of their fellow citizens.
Various politicians and security officials have also been asking for Bitar’s sacking as anger and criticism by families of the victims and rights groups have risen as a result of the investigation being halted for over a year.
Should a verdict not be reached in the near future, it is feared that tensions and anger at the political and judicial elite will further boil over as many Lebanese are sceptical about a fair and just outcome, fearing corruption playing a key role in covering up the facts and protecting the culpable.
ABC News / LBCI Lebanon
