Bitar interrogates army member as new defendant in port case

The judicial investigator into the Beirut port explosion case, Judge Tarek Bitar, on Friday interrogated a new defendant in the file, Lebanese Army chief warrant officer Roudy F., who had been tasked by the army with inspecting Hangar 12 prior to its explosion, the National News Agency said.

NNA reported that the interrogation took place in the presence of Attorney General Judge Mohammad Saab and the lawyers representing the defendant.

Bitar had on November 4 interrogated and charged the Lebanese Army’s former chief of staff Walid Salman and retired army brigadier generals George Moussa, Munir Abou Zeid and Manuel Kirjian.

"The interrogation of the aforementioned officers follows the substantive pleading prepared by Attorney General Judge Mohammed Saab, in which he pressed charges against them and requested their interrogation over suspicions regarding their knowledge of the presence of ammonium nitrate at the Beirut port," NNA said at the time.

The massive explosion on August 4, 2020 killed more than 220 people, injured more than 6,500 and laid waste to swathes of the capital.

Lebanese authorities said the 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.

Nobody has been punished for the blast despite public anger and families of the blast victims demanding justice in a country long plagued by official impunity.

Current and former politicians, security and military officials, and civil servants were previously charged by Bitar.

The case had been bogged down by political and legal wrangling since 2023, after Hezbollah led a campaign demanding Bitar's removal and dozens of lawsuits also sought to remove him from the case.

However, Bitar resumed his investigations last year as Lebanon's balance of power shifted.

President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam took office following a 2023-2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which weakened the Lebanese armed group.

Since then, several legal impediments to Bitar's work have also been removed, including the lifting of a travel ban against him.