Six months after the Beirut Port explosion, a decision has reportedly been made to remove the lead investigative judge looking into the blast, Judge Fadi Sawan.
According to LBCI, the Criminal Court of Cassation headed by Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar decided to transfer the case from Judge Sawan to another judge.
This is the latest of obstacles challenging the Beirut blast investigation and hindering the path to accountability.
Just yesterday, the indicted former Public Works and Transportation Minister Youssef Fenianos declined to testify before Judge Sawan, refusing to be questioned over the blast.
Fenianos was indicted in December along with caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and two other former ministers Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil.
All were charged with criminal negligence causing the death of nearly 200 people and injury of thousands.
Diab and the ministers have since only responded with noncompliance with the judge’s decisions. Two indicted former ministers, Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil, requested Sawan’s removal from the case.
It has been over six months since the blast and the investigation is going nowhere.
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