Lebanon's prosecutor retaliates, charges judge investigating Beirut port blast
The latest charges made by Beirut port explosion Judge Tarek Bitar against Lebanon’s key political figures has angered many in the political elite who banned him from travel on Wednesday.
Lebanon’s Prosecutor General Ghassan Oweidat charged the Beirut port explosion judge and served him with a travel ban on Wednesday.
Oweidat summoned Judge Tarek Bitar for questioning and accused him of "acting without a mandate." This follows Bitar unprecedented charges on Monday implicating the country’s elite in the blast. Those names include Oweidat. Bitar's announcement has triggered a power struggle within the Lebanese judiciary and a wave of protests against the political class inside Lebanon.
Oweidat called this development a “sedition” and charged Bitar for “rebelling against the judiciary,” AFP reported. He issued an order allowing the release of the 17 suspects being held in pre-trial detention in the blast that killed over 200 people and ravaged Beirut in August 2020.
Following a 13-month freeze of the investigation due to a legal battle with different ends of the political spectrum, Bitar took it upon himself to resume the investigation.
