It has become clear by now that two of Lebanon’s “three presidents” had known about the presence of a large amount of explosive material at the Port of Beirut before the explosion exposed the fact to the public.
According to recent reports, both President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab had been directly informed of the dangerous ammonium nitrate stash at the Port two weeks before the explosion.
Based on that, and on the observation that president Aoun and Diab “refrained from taking measures or forgot to take the sufficient measures” afterward, lawyer Majd Harb has filed a lawsuit against both top officials.
By refraining from acting on their duties, the President and the Prime Minister “caused the death of hundreds of people, the injury of thousands of citizens, and the destruction of half of the capital Beirut,” the lawsuit read.
Among the things that the lawsuit points to regarding President Aoun is his failure to react preemptively to prevent the explosion from happening when he had the opportunity to do so.
This, according to Article 191 of the Lebanese Criminal Code, constitutes a criminal act that applies to the text of the said Article, which is the following:
“An offense is unintentional if the perpetrator did not foresee the consequence of his wrongful act or omission, although he could or should have done so, or if he foresaw it and believed that he could prevent it.”
Similarly, the actions of the caretaker Prime Minister when it comes to handling the threat of the ammonium nitrate, unsafely stored at Beirut Port, “constitute a criminal offense punishable by law.”
By not properly responding to the threat, PM Diab has committed criminal acts as stated by Articles 190, 191, and 564 of the Criminal Code, which subjects him to “criminal and civil prosecution to compensate those affected with his private money.”
Harb’s legal action against two of Lebanon’s top officials comes 15 days after the Beirut Port explosion, by which numerous people remain missing today.
