On Thursday, William Noun, the brother of Joe Noun, one of the fire brigade victims of the Beirut port explosion, was summoned for investigation at the State Security Directorate in Mount Lebanon.
A summon was also issued for Peter Abou Saab whose brother Joe, a member of the civil defense forces, was killed in the line of duty while attempting to extinguish the fire at the exploded warehouse back on August 4th, 2020.
“After inquiring about the reason for the summoning, it was found that Judge Ghada Aoun had written a summons sign against me, which is likely because we protested yesterday [Wednesday] in front of the house of the Minister of Justice,” said William Noun.
On Wednesday, the families of the victims of the fire brigade in the Beirut port explosion protested in front of the house of Minister of Justice Henry Khoury. The bereaved families claimed that he did not fulfill the duty to solve the obstruction of investigations.
The families also held slogans saying “The Minister is a Coward”, and wrote the names of their loved ones who had died in the blast on the wall of the Minister of Justice’s house.
William Noun assured that he will attend the investigation session on Friday. “I have the honor to protest in front of the officials’ homes… We are not stealing, we are demanding justice, and let those responsible answer for the port explosion,” he said.
The summoning of the brothers of the victims caused rage among Lebanese activists, who all united to speak about the “unfairness” of Lebanon’s judiciary. They accused the judiciary to act as if these brothers are the ones behind the Beirut Blast.
A Twitter user expressed his outrage, saying: “We are in a country that has committed the largest crime in its history, fugitives from justice are candidates for elections, and the families of the victims are wanted for investigation!”
Activists and the families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion also organized a solidarity stand with William Noun at 11 am on Friday in front of the State Security Directorate in Dekwaneh.
William Noun was previously summoned for investigation, along with other activists for breaking into the house of deputy Tarek Merehbe in August 2021, but was later released after Merehbe backed off from the prosecution.
