Lebanon’s acting prime minister and three former ministers have been charged with negligence in connection with the deadly blast at Beirut’s port in August.
The August 4 explosion at Beirut port killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and left over 300,000 people homeless.
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The blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been poorly stored at the port for years, with the knowledge of politicians, top security officials, prime minister and even the president.
Judge Fadi Sawwan, who has been leading the investigation into Beirut’s port explosion, indicted caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and two former ministers of public works — Ghazi Zeiter and Youssef Fenianos.
The investigating judge had faced mounting criticism from the public for the secretive investigation and the fact that no senior political figures had been held to account.
Before Thursday’s indictment, those detained over the blast were around 30 low-to mid-level security officials and port and customs officials.
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The newly indicted people have now been accused of failing to take sufficient measures to prevent the devastating explosion. According to local media, they had received several written notices warning them of possible impending danger.
However, Diab, whose cabinet resigned in the wake of August blast after taking office in early 2020, rejected Judge Sawan’s decision saying his conscience was clear and accused the judge of breaching the constitution.
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In a statement published by the state news agency, the caretaker prime minister expressed that “he has handled the Beirut Port blast file in a responsible and transparent manner” and that he “will not allow the Premiership to be targeted by any party”.
On his part, Mr Zeiter said he would comment once he was officially informed, while there was no immediate comment from Mr Fenianos.
Meanwhile, Mr Khalil, a top aide to Lebanon’s influential parliament speaker Nabih Berri, said he had no role in the case as former head of the finance ministry, which oversees customs.
Notwithstanding, the four defendants are scheduled to be interrogated next week.
