The families of the Beirut blast victims expressed optimism after meeting the newly-appointed judicial investigator leading the investigation into the August 4th explosion, on Monday.
A delegation of the families met Judge Tarek Bitar on Monday, a couple of days after he was appointed to take over the probe from his predecessor, Judge Fadi Sawan, who had been working on the case for more than 6 months.
Speaking to the press outside the Beirut Justice Palace, the delegation quoted Judge Bitar as saying that he would resume the investigation from where Judge Sawan had left it, “and we gave him three weeks to be comfortable, and he has no red lines.”
The families also praised the judge, describing him as “a strong man in every sense of the word.”
“We are optimistic about Judge Bitar, who assured us that he will not stop at immunities and will brief us on the course of the investigation periodically and give all seriousness to our file,” they stated.
The families of the deadly port explosion victims had taken to the streets last week following reports that Judge Fadi Sawan would be removed from the case.
During a protest on Thursday, they warned that they would escalate and continue to demonstrate in response to what they described as a new, “politicized explosion,” calling for the quick appointment of a new judge to lead the probe.
