Families of Beirut blast victims back judge amid pressure

BEIRUT — The families of the victims of Beirut’s monolithic larboard blast past twelvemonth reaffirmed Saturday their enactment for the justice starring the probe into the explosion, contempt expanding calls for his ouster by the militant Hezbollah radical and its allies.

The families’ connection was seemingly meant to antagonistic a video released by their spokesperson connected societal media precocious Friday successful which helium calls connected Judge Tarek Bitar to measurement down.

The spokesman, Ibrahim Hoteit, could not beryllium reached for comment. It was unclear if helium had made the video nether pressure. The families said helium had not coordinated with them, which helium ever does earlier making nationalist announcement, and that the video took them by surprise.

Since the August 2020 detonation astatine Beirut’s larboard that killed astatine slightest 215 people, the families of the victims person taken connected an progressively salient relation successful Lebanon with their demands for accountability. After the blast, it emerged from documents that respective elder politicians and information chiefs knew of the hundreds of tons of highly combustible ammonium nitrate stored haphazardly successful a larboard warehouse and did thing astir it.

On Thursday, gunbattles erupted connected Beirut streets betwixt 2 camps opposing and supporting the justice successful the probe, killed 7 and wounded dozens.

The unit broke retired astatine a protestation organized by Hezbollah and Amal groups, which person called for Bitar’s removal. The 2 groups person suggested the probe is heading toward holding them liable for the blast.

“We, the families of much than 200 martyrs and thousands of injured and hundreds of thousands of radical who suffered damages, person enactment our religion successful investigative justice Tarek Bitar,” the families said.

In the video, the spokesperson demands the justice measurement down due to the fact that “the concern has turned into shedding of the humor of guiltless people” — a notation to Thursday’s violence. The spokesman’s younger member was killed successful the larboard explosion.

Judge Bitar has charged and issued arrests warrant for Lebanon’s erstwhile ministers of concern and nationalist works, some adjacent allies of Hezbollah. Bitar has charged the two, on with different erstwhile curate and premier minister, with intentional sidesplitting and negligence that led to the blast.