The investigations into last month’s cataclysmic Beirut port blast are forging ahead and will target prominent officials as demonstrated by investigating judge, Fadi Sawwan, listening to the testimony of caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
Sawwan listened to the lengthy testimony during a meeting with the PM at the Grand Serail on Thursday.
Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the briefing focused on the correspondence Diab received from security agencies on the stockpile of ammonium nitrate at the port. The PM informed the judge about the orders he gave the agencies and concerned ministries to tackle the stockpile and the reasons why they were not removed from warehouse 12 before they blew up on August 4.
Lebanese authorities are probing what caused highly explosive material that was neglected and stored unsafely for years to detonate in a mushroom cloud, wrecking swathes of the city and fueling anger at a political class already blamed for the country’s economic meltdown. The explosion killed at least 190 people and left 300,000 people homeless and caused $15 billion in direct damage. Five people are still missing.
Sawwan’s visit to the Grand Serial surprised political and judicial circles in Lebanon because Diab is, so far, the highest political figure to be probed in the blast.
A judicial source noted the fact that Sawwan listened to the PM’s testimony before summoning the current and former ministers of transportation and public works and finance is a sign that the investigation is moving forward without obstacles.
It is a sign that no one is above the law, it added to Asharq Al-Awsat.
On whether Sawwan will listen to the testimony of political leaders, the source said: “The investigation will include everyone who needs to be interrogated so that everyone involved will be held accountable.”
The next two weeks are expected to be decisive in the probe.
Sawwan will listen to the testimonies of four witnesses on Monday. Over the next two weeks, he will also interrogate everyone involved in the case, including security officials, politicians, judges and port employees who knew about the ammonium nitrate stockpile.
The source denied claims that some current and former ministers had refused to appear before Sawwan, saying none of them had been summoned by him yet. The majority of ministers of transport and public works and finance have expressed their readiness to appear before the judge and testify.
The source explained that the criminal trial law grants the investigate judge the authority to summon anyone for questioning, without referring to the general prosecution, if he has enough information against this person. The law does not distinguish between minister, director or political, security or administrative official.
