Lebanon president promises justice 5 years after Beirut port blast

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday vowed that “justice is coming”, five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut’s port for which nobody has been held to account.

The blast on August 4, 2020 was one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, devastating swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring over 6,500.

The explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser had been stored haphazardly for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Aoun said that the Lebanese state “is committed to uncovering the whole truth, no matter the obstacles or how high the positions” involved.

“The law applies to all, without exception,” Aoun said in a statement.

Monday has been declared a day of national mourning, and rallies demanding justice are planned later in the day, converging on the port.

“The blood of your loved ones will not be in vain,” the president told victims’ families, adding: “Justice is coming, accountability is coming.”

After more than a two-year impasse following political and judicial obstruction, investigating judge Tarek Bitar has finished questioning defendants and suspects, a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Bitar is waiting for some procedures to be completed and for a response to requests last month to several Arab and European countries for “information on specific incidents”, the official added, without elaborating.

– Impunity –

The judge will then finalise the investigation and refer the file to the public prosecution for its opinion before he issues an indictment decision, the official said.

President Aoun said that “we are working with all available means to ensure the investigations are completed with transparency and integrity.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a former International Court of Justice judge, said on Sunday that knowing the truth and ensuring accountability were national issues, decrying decades of official impunity.

Bitar resumed his inquiry after Aoun and Salam took office this year pledging to uphold judicial independence, after the balance of power shifted following a devastating war between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

Bitar’s probe stalled after the Iran-backed group, long a dominant force in Lebanese politics but weakened by the latest war, had accused him of bias and demanded his removal.

Mariana Fodoulian from the association of victims’ families said that “for five years, officials have been trying to evade accountability, always thinking they are above the law.”

“We’re not asking for anything more than the truth,” she told AFP.

“We won’t stop until we get comprehensive justice.”

On Sunday, Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said the port’s gutted and partially collapsed wheat silos would be included on a list of historic buildings.

Victims’ families have long demanded their preservation as a memorial of the catastrophe.