The visit that French judges plan to make to Lebanon to review the file of investigations into the Beirut Port blast has started to gain importance in terms of its content and timing.
This article was originally published in, translated from the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar.
It also coincides with a "judicial-popular escalation" that prevents taking any action that would advance the file, as if the intention was to highlight the Lebanese judiciary's failure to reach the "truth" and the need for an outside "guardian" to push for the case's internationalization.
Days before the arrival of the French delegation, anger grew among some of the families of the Beirut Port blast victims, which prevented the Supreme Judicial Council from convening again on Thursday.
However, four members of the Council (judges Habib Mezher, Mireille Haddad, Dany Shibli, and Elias Richa) called for an extraordinary session to discuss a single item on "the search for solutions that ensure the conduct of the judicial investigation into the port case, to preserve the rights of all parties, including the families of the victims and the detainees," according to the report.
Following that, the Head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Souheil Abboud, escaped responsibility after the General Authority for the Courts of Cassation appointments were finished, and decisions were reached about the lawsuits brought against Judge Tarek Bitar.
Moreover, the latter came to the Justice Ministry without entering his office or the session that did not secure the quorum (6 judges), as he asked Judge Afif al-Hakim to be absent and turn off his phone. At the same time, the Public Prosecutor, Ghassan Oweidat, was also absent.
Meanwhile, families of the blast victims gathered in front of Beirut Justice Palace, considering that "the visit of the European delegation is an opportunity to avoid concealing justice.
So, according to judicial sources, France is still interested in the probe because "France assigned a judge to look into a crime in which French citizens were slain, and it considers that it has a right to access the details of the investigations."
And after it became clear to the French side that a meeting with Judge Tarek Bitar—who had previously refused to reveal any information before he finished his work—was not possible, the French requested a meeting with the Court of Cassation's Public Prosecution Office to view the specifics of the case.
In this context, those concerned in Lebanon received direct US messages regarding the need to proceed with the file.
Some interpreted the matter as using the file for political purposes again. But information revealed that the US Ambassador to Beirut, Dorothy Shea, held meetings last week with Abboud, Oweidat, and the Director General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, whereby she stressed the need to move the file and speed up the consideration of the status of the detainees.
However, it is notable that Shea was clear in her request to decide the fate of the port security official, Muhammad Ziyad Al-Awf, who holds American citizenship, and whose family pressured members of the US Congress to intervene for his release.
Members also attempted to call a US parliamentary committee that deals with American hostages abroad and the detained person as a hostage, enabling the committee to suggest to the US government imposing sanctions on the officials responsible for their arrest, whether they are administrators, judges, or security personnel.