Rania Chakhtoura, “Akhbar al-Yawm” agency

The fear of accelerated deterioration is becoming more acute day by day due to the collapse of the currency on the one hand, and the urgency in mobilizing the file of the Beirut port explosion after 13 months of suspension on the other hand, which suggested that an invisible hand began to manipulate the fate of the country and the people!

In this context, a legal source points out that the judicial investigator in the Beirut port explosion seems to have bypassed the applicable stages of the investigation in accordance with due process, where the first step is to listen to people who may later turn into defendants, innocent people or witnesses who contribute to shedding light on important points, so what is surprising is why the judge Tarek al-Bitar demands or insists on prosecuting some without listening to their statements? Especially since we are not facing a normal crime, while the causes of the explosion are still unclear, as well as the owner of the explosive goods, which he abandoned before arriving in Lebanon...

The source asked: what changed during the "suspension"? And why didn't Al-Bitar first take his alleged decision and prosecute only those who were involved in the investigations, whether it was the former prime minister Hassan Diab or any minister, deputy or security official?

In response to a question, the source said that in view of the experience of those detained pending investigation, it turns out that there are 17 detainees who have been detained for about 29 months and that their fate has not yet been decided despite repeated requests for release that have not received any response, and therefore is it necessary to repeat the experience with others?

The source talked about discretion in dealing with detainees or defendants, for example, Shafik Merhi, the Customs director, was released when the nitrate cargo was unloaded, while Badri Daher, who had no responsibility when those materials were unloaded, is still arrested, is it permissible to release the first and leave the second arrested without explaining the justifications?

The source concludes by saying: security and justice are targeted. He warned that if the judiciary does not address the signs of division that have begun to appear publicly, the situation will deteriorate, which will lead to repercussions on more than one level. Al-Bitar's allegation against the two generals, director-general of General Security Abbas Ibrahim and Director-General of State Security Tony Saliba, came after the issue of holding a parliamentary session was raised for an extension to a number of security leaders...Is it intended for defamation?