Judge Tarek Bitar reopened suddenly the investigation of the 2020 Beirut explosion and charged top security officials, according to Reuters, with the charges remaining unspecified yet.
On 4 August at the port of Beirut in Lebanon, an explosion killed 200 people and injured thousands.
The decision was made on Monday 23 January, more than a year after the investigation was frozen due to political opposition.
Among the officials who are charged are Hassan Diab, a former Lebanese Prime Minister, and two former ministers, facing charges of homicide with probable intent.
Bitar had tried to interrogate top officials but the reaction from the factions, including the heavily armed, Iranian-backed Hezbollah, was strong, according to Reuters.
Bitar had also ordered the release of five people detained since shortly after the blast, the former port officials Michel Nahoul, Shafiq Merhi and Sami Hussein, a welder of Syrian origin, Ahmad Rajab, and a contractor, Salim Shebli.
“Politicians that Bitar had sought to question, including Hezbollah allies, made dozens of legal challenges disputing his right to interrogate them and saying he had overstepped his powers,” said a report by Reuters.
In early 2022, the investigations were halted due to the retirement of judges from a court that must rule on several such complaints against Bitar, which eventually resumed his work on the basis of a legal interpretation challenging the reasons for its suspension.
