Clash of titans: The battle between Judge Bitar, Prosecutor Oueidat

Did the judicial investigator Tarek Bitar know that his voluntary return to the port investigations would cause such tensions?

After a year and a month of forced suspension due to lawsuits filed against him, Judge Bitar believed the judicial investigator was turning a blind eye. This was on January 23, 2023.
 
After ten days, his return ended before it was completed.

However, tensions escalated rapidly only due to Bitar's claim against the State Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat.

The latter, who had distanced himself from the case for over a year under the pretext of stepping down from the case, was handed the "pass" easily, while Bitar faced a serious challenge.

In an unprecedented judicial move, seventeen detainees were released simultaneously, with Bitar securing freedom for only five of them.

However, Oueidat shrugged off the pressure from political and security forces, which Bitar considered he didn't need permission to pursue.

But the most important thing was the lifting of Western sanctions, especially those that were placed on the table for the US Department of State's Antony Blinken to sign after it became evident, according to the Levinson Act, that an American citizen, Mohammed Ziyad Al-Awf, had become a hostage, and thus his release became a priority.

The relationship between Bitar and Oweidat had never deteriorated to this extent before, and the investigation paid the price.

The insistence of Oueidat on proceeding with the interrogation sessions was met with a series of administrative and legal measures.

1. The Public Prosecution Office of Cassation was barred from cooperating with his requests

2. Oueidat accused Bitar of power abuse

3. Leaking information about the intention to issue a summons against him if he insisted on holding sessions for the accused

Amid the security dilemma on the one hand and the hammer of restraining Bitar on the other, everything came to a halt amid deafening political silence.

The affected judges, politicians, and security officials emerged unharmed, feeling at ease.

But those who suffered the consequences are the ones who bore the truth and the truth itself. 

Today, Judge Habib Rizkallah is investigating the alleged crime of power abuse committed by Bitar. Whatever the outcome, the only sure thing is that what this case has been going through three years after the crime is a stain on Lebanon's history.