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    Home»News»Lebanon News
    Ruptly TV | @HusseinElAchi
    3 Mins Read

    Protests Are Escalating For Justice Over Beirut Blast

    By Rim ZreinFebruary 19, 2021Updated:February 19, 2021
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    For the second consecutive day, families and friends of the Beirut blast victims came together outside the Justice Palace to protest the removal of the lead investigator Judge Fadi Sawan from the investigation.

    EPA

    As they warned earlier, they just escalated the situation, unleashing their fury by blocking the road leading to the Adlieh roundabout, near the Justice Palace in Beirut, with burning tires and other obstacles.

    Protestors burning tired in Beirut. Photo by: Mohamad Azakir

    Families raised photos of their lost ones – sons, brothers, sisters, fathers…- and raised signs that read: “Where is justice?”

    #Lebanon: Burning tyres outside palace of justice as families of #BeirutBlast victims continue to demand justice… pic.twitter.com/sJFyW1Zs7i

    — sebastian usher (@sebusher) February 19, 2021

    Since Friday morning, the families have been expressing their built-in anger, objecting to the investigation returning to square one after being stalled for over 6 months.

    الصورة التي اختصرت كل شيء…#انفجار_مرفأ_بيروت pic.twitter.com/P7Z2JvvCFV

    — Abbas Haidar -عباس حيدر (@absi81) February 19, 2021

    A mother who lost her son at the port that doomsday, State Security member Charbel Matta, was heard saying to reporters on the ground, “Is it difficult to conclude who did it? When a massacre of this scale occurs, the least these men in charge can do is resign. We do not accept this.”

    Vowing to do whatever it takes to unveil the truth, she added, “The crime was easy, and reaching the truth is difficult, but we are not leaving until we do. They cannot start the investigation all over again now.”

    Mothers protesting while holding pictures of their children who passed away due to the port explosion. Photo by: Mohamad Azakir

    The Court of Cassation on Thursday removed Sawan, following a complaint by two former ministers who had refused to cooperate with the investigation, along with intense pressure from various politicians hindering the course of justice.

    الاخطر:
    اذا هالطبقة السياسية قدرت تتهرب من المحاسبة بجريمة هالقد كبيرة، جريمة حازت على انتباه كل دول العالم، يعني رح بتكون دعوة صريحة الهم ليكملوا اجرامهم ويعملوا فينا بعد اكتر من هيك بالمستقبل❗️
    غير موجة شعبية كبيرة تقتلعهم: ما في شي رح يوقفهم عن تدمير حياتنا!#انفجار_مرفأ_بيروت pic.twitter.com/1LMfK8rxOQ

    — lucien bourjeily (@lucienbourjeily) February 19, 2021

    The court claimed that Sawan, whose home was also devastated by the blast, wasn’t enacting impartiality in issuing summons and arrests against certain officials whom the court deems immune from prosecution by the constitution.

    https://twitter.com/GloriaSouhaid/status/1362786362689269765

    After multiple hours of standing on their feet with no answers from the officials in charge, Judge Souheil Abboud received a delegation from the families of the victims in the Justice Palace.

    Aiming to calm them down, he assured them that a judge who is “honest, brave, competent, and apolitical” will be selected to lead the investigation, albeit these were the qualifications Judge Sawan proved to possess yet was removed… because of that.

    People are well aware of that, hence what was meant to reassure them did not get them to back off. The delegation issued in a live statement that their protests will not stop once a new judge is appointed but until a concrete verdict is reached.

    سنحاسب المجرمين القتلة ولو بعد حين…#انفجار_مرفأ_بيروت pic.twitter.com/F9b3oS5RrH

    — Hussein El Achi (@HusseinElAchi) February 19, 2021

    “The only weapon we have against them is pressure from the streets, and we will not stop,” the delegation spokesperson declared.

    Addressing the government, he added on behalf of the families: “We blame you fully for this crime, and there will be revenge. We vow to follow you wherever you go, even in your dreams.”

    Beirut Blast Probe Beirut Explosion Lebanese Revolution (Thawra)
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