February 19 – According to Reuters, on the 18th local time, the Supreme Court of Lebanon terminated the investigation of investigating Judge Savan into the Beirut bombing and transferred it to another judge.
The judge accused senior politicians of neglecting their duties in the bombing of the port of Beirut. The court’s move triggered a protest from the families of the victims.
According to a judgment document, Reuters reported that Savan’s neutrality was “reasonablely doubted”, partly because his house was damaged in the explosion.
On the evening of the 18th local time, the families of the victims of the Beirut bombing sat in front of the Beirut judicial palace, dressed in black, holding the portraits of the deceased relatives, and holding a warning sign that said, “Where is the investigation results?”, protesting against Savan’s removal from the investigators.
On August 4, 2020, local time, a violent explosion occurred in the port area of Beirut, Lebanon, injuring thousands. Then Prime Minister Diab announced the collective resignation of the government on August 10 and immediately became the caretaker prime minister.
The exact cause of the explosion is still unclear. Several Lebanese officials mentioned that about 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate have been stored in the warehouse in the Beirut port area since 2014.
Public documents show that some high-level officials are also aware of the existence of this chemical.
In December 2020, it was reported that Savan accused the caretaker Prime Minister Diab, former Finance Minister Khalil, former public works minister Zaiter and Yusuf of negligence, which led to the explosion.
The official accused by Savan refused to be questioned as a suspect and accused him of ultra vires. Among them, Khalil and Zaitel accused Savan of unconstitutional and asked him to avoid the investigation of the case.
At the end of the same month, Savan submitted all the investigation materials of the case to the Supreme Court of Lebanon, and the investigation of the case was suspended on the 30th. On January 11, 2021, the Supreme Court of Lebanon announced the resumption of the Savan investigation.
