Le juge Fadi Sawwan aurait mis en examen 1 ancien premier ministre et 3 anciens ministres dans le cadre de l’enquête portant sur l’explosion du Port de Beyrouth, le 4 août dernier, indique le quotidien The DailyStar Lebanon. Il s’agirait d’une première au Liban où des responsables à ce niveau seraient mis en cause depuis les années 1990.
Il s’agirait du Premier Ministre Sortant, Hassan Diab, de l’ancien ministre des finances Ali Hassan Khalil et des anciens ministres des transport Ghazi Zeiter et Youssef Fenianos. Il serait reproché à Hassan Diab d’avoir tardé à agir après avoir été informé de la présence de 2750 tonnes de nitrate d’ammonium.
The explosion of the port of Beirut
As a reminder, more than 200 people are reported to have died and more than 6,500 people were injured in the explosion that devastated the port of Beirut and much of the Lebanese capital on 4 August. 300,000 people are also reported to be homeless as a result of the explosion.
The trail of an accidental explosion on 4 August 2020 of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate inside a warehouse in beirut harbour, seized in 2014 on a garbage ship, the Moldovan-flagged Rhosus, is currently favoured by the Lebanese authorities. This explosion would be equivalent to that of 600 tons of TNT or an earthquake of 3.3 on the Richter scale.
It is said to have caused a crater 110 metres long and 43 metres deep, a security source said on Sunday (August 9th), citing comments by French experts at the scene.
Speaking in the Columns of the Washington Post on 7 September, the Prosecutor of the Republic, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, revealed that in addition to the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, kerosene, gazoil, 25 tons of fireworks and detonators for use for mines were also present in the same warehouse.
The presence of these products could have maintained the fire and allowed it to reach the temperatures allowing the explosion of ammonium nitrate, some experts point out.
The damage is estimated to be between $10 billion and $15 billion.
The port of Beirut, an area where corruption was widespread
The Lebanese authorities’ refusal to set up an international investigation is linked to the fear that the scale of corruption at Lebanon’s main gate would be involved in almost all Lebanese political parties, including some who are now calling for the investigation, some media sources note, under the guise of a temporary authority to manage the port of Beirut whose appointments were made on official sectarian lines.
Saad Hariri, who has been in question almost because of his closeness to the former director of the port of Beirut Hassan Koraytem for more than 20 years, now denies any direct link with him.
On the spot, operators note that the transit of goods often gives rise to a racketeering. Thus, in order to be able to get goods out of the port of Beirut, important undersides must be frequently paid.
Others note that some shipments are not checked. Goods are also under-billed so as not to pay taxes due to a state in financial crisis.
The investigation into those responsible for the explosion
At present, 33 people are currently under investigation. Among them, the director of the port of Beirut, Hassan Koraytem, as well as the director of the Lebanese customs services Badri Daher, both indicted by the investigating judge Fadi Sawwan, in charge of the investigation.
In total, several security officials and the port of Beirut were arrested.
Some sources point out that the various Lebanese political parties had shared the revenues of the port of Beirut , making it difficult at present to know the responsibilities of each in this explosion.
Several political parties, both majority and opposition, would also like to conclude the investigation quickly, having been involved in various traffickings that take place to or from the port of Beirut. They would like to avoid the degree of involvement of each individual and the security violations necessary to continue their trafficking.
Also, security officials had warned the political authorities several times in recent years, the judicial authorities have not decided on the implementation of the necessary measures of transfer of the cargo.
Sources close to the case also point to the responsibility of several administrations in the port of Beirut, especially since senior officials were aware of the danger posed by the improper storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate since 2014.
Although the FBI report could not conclude on the origin of the explosion and suggests an apparently accidental lead based on information provided by the Lebanese authorities, Lebanon remains awaiting the results of parallel investigations conducted by France and Great Britain.
On 10 December, Judge Fadi Sawwan indicted outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab, former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former transport ministers Ghazi Zeiter and Youssef Finianos.
The two former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoeitar, also close to the president of the chamber Nabih Berri, then refused to go to the judge, believing they enjoy parliamentary immunity. However, this immunity has been the subject of controversy, with the Beirut Bar ruling that it cannot be applied in the context of this case.
The latter then obtain the judge’s dismissal in February 2021, the court of cassation, seized by 2 former ministers, the former minister of finance Ali Hassan Khalil and the former minister of transport Ghazi Zoaiter, having decided that the magistrate had motivated his decision whereas his residence is located in the district of ‘Ashrafieh also damaged by the explosion. He was therefore a stakeholder in this case.
Judge Tarek Bitar was then appointed on February 19 . Its name having already been proposed last August as part of the same procedure. At the time, however, he refused to become the investigative judge in the case of the tragedy of August 4, on the pretext of a heavy workload.
In early June, the new judge indicated that 3 hypotheses were examined after French experts have revealed the content of a preliminary report , that of a human error following a welding work which started a fire, an intentional fire or an explosion following the firing of a rocket.
According to the judge, one of these hypotheses would be ruled out by more than 80% following receipt of the report from the French experts which finally reached Lebanon.
There remain 2 hypotheses which are currently the subject of in-depth studies. Some sources indicate that these would be the hypotheses of an arson or accidental fire.
Beginning of July, Judge Tarek Bitar calls for the lifting of parliamentary immunity of a number of officials including the former finance minister, Ali Hassan Khalil and the former minister of public works, Ghazi Zeaiter, 2 close to the president of the chamber of deputies Nabih Berri as well as the former interior ministers Nouhad Machnouk, all suspected of having been made aware of the presence of dangerous substances. He also requested permission to question a number of former officials and current officials of the security services including the director of general security, General Abbas Ibrahim or the former commander of the Lebanese army, the General Jean Kahwaji.
This Friday July 9, the parliamentary bureau and the parliamentary administration and justice committee have reportedly postponed the decision to lift the immunity of the parliamentarians concerned , asking for more information on this.
The same day, Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi refused to allow the interrogation of General Abbas Ibrahim leading Judge Tarek Bitar to lodge an appeal with the Court of Cassation.
On October 11, 2021, Judge Tarek Bitar issued an arrest warrant for Ali Hassan Khalil after it did not occur in front of him. This arrest warrant will lead to demonstrations in front of the courthouse on October 14, 2021, and the famous incidents of Tayyouneh, the worst sectarian incidents since the end of the civil war between Christians and Shiites. The Amal movement and Hezbollah, co-organizer of the demonstration, will then accuse snipers of the Lebanese Forces of having fired on them.
L’Histoire d’un navire poubelle dont la cargaison échoue au port de Beyrouth
Tout commence en 2013 quand un cargo battant pavillon moldave, le Rhosus avec à son bord 2750 tonnes de nitrate d’ammonium faisait route depuis le port de Batumi en Géorgie jusqu’au Mozambique. Cette marchandise avait été achetée par International Bank of Mozambique for Fábrica de Explosivos de Moçambique.
L’armateur, qui a en réalité loué le navire, un certain Igor Grechushkin, serait un ressortissant russe résidant à Chypre. Ce dernier avait reçu la somme d’un million de dollars pour transporter cette marchandise considérée comme dangereuse jusqu’au port de Beira au Mozambique.
Quant au capitaine du navire, il s’agirait un certain Prokoshev qui aurait pris les commandes du navire en Turquie, suite à une mutinerie de son équipage précédent qui n’avait pas été payé.
Puis Grechushkin aurait indiqué au capitaine ne pas disposer de fonds suffisant pour payer le passage via le canal de Suez. Il aurait ordonné de charger d’autres marchandises à Beyrouth afin de payer cette somme. Ces marchandises ne pourront cependant être mises à bord du cargo. Selon le capitaine, suite à une inspection, les autorités libanaises auraient retiré le certificat de navigabilité du navire et auraient ordonné son maintien au port de Beyrouth jusqu’au paiement des frais d’accostage et de frais annexes. L’armateur du navire Grechushkin, contacté par l’équipage pour assurer le paiement de nourriture, de fioul et d’autres frais annexes sera injoignable.
Cependant, cette version est contredite par les autorités libanaises qui évoquent une avarie de son moteur, le navire sera d’abord remorqué à Beyrouth le 21 novembre 2013, précise le ministre des Transports d’alors Ghazi Aridi.
6 membres de l’équipage pourront quitter le navire mais 4 membres, le capitaine et 3 ressortissants ukrainiens resteront à bord de ce dernier. Ils ne pourront cependant pas le quitter en raison des restrictions imposées par la loi libanaise et en arriveront à mendier nourriture et eau selon les avocats qui ont pris en charge ce dossier.
Les avocats du bureau Baroudi and Partners représentant cet équipage ont également alerté les autorités libanaises de la dangerosité de la cargaison. Finalement, ils pourront rentrer chez eux en août 2014 après que Grechushkin ait accepté de payer le voyage du retour de ces derniers et que la cargaison n’ait été déchargée que le 27 juin 2014.
C’est alors que les autorités libanaises ont du prendre en charge la marchandise.
Quant au navire, il sombrera en 2015. Selon les témoignages de son équipage, ce dernier souffrait dès son départ de Turquie, d’une importante voie d’eau nécessitant de faire marcher ses pompes de manière continue.
