Field events escalate in Lebanon a day after Najib Mikati’s government failed to convene, as a result of the refusal of ministers affiliated with the Amal Movement and Hezbollah to attend if the government did not take a clear decision to dismiss the investigative judge in the Beirut port explosion, Tariq Al-Bitar.

Al-Bitar's personality has sparked a wide debate in Lebanon, among groups that support him - led by the families of the victims of the explosion - and consider that he is facing alone the forces of the authority and their interventions in the judiciary with the aim of diluting the truth, and other groups accuse him of politicizing the investigation file and perusing press leaks in favor of forces against others.

Birth and upbringing

1974: Al-Bitar was born in the town of Aidmon, Akkar Governorate, north Lebanon.

He was born into a Christian family and married the governor, Mrs. Julia, and had two children with her.

- He spent his school years in a school in Tripoli, which is the capital of the north and the first city for the residents of Akkar villages.

1999: Graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Official Lebanese University.

2003: He graduated from the Institute of Judicial Studies after 4 years, to occupy the position of a genuine judge.

- Over the course of 18 years, Al-Bitar spent most of his judicial experience in Tripoli. He started as a member of the Primary Chamber in the north, then was appointed as a single judge to consider criminal cases in the north at the Tripoli Justice Palace, and continued in his position from 2004 until 2010.

2010: Appointed as an appellate public prosecutor in the North for a period of 7 years.

2015: Al-Bitar’s name emerged in the case of a Lebanese girl who was subjected to medical errors that led to the amputation of her four limbs. The responsible parties were sentenced to pay a large fine and obliged them to pay a monthly salary to the girl for life.

Head of the Criminal Court..a new turning point

- 2017: He moved to a new turning point in his judicial career, following his appointment as Head of the Beirut Criminal Court, and he still holds this position, and another judge deputizes for him after he took over the investigation into the Beirut Port explosion file.

- When Al-Bitar received the Criminal Court, there were more than 900,000 judicial files backlogged, and within 4 years, this number was reduced to less than 500 files.

Those who worked with him mention that he is very passionate about his work, and he used to stay in the court and the Palace of Justice sometimes until late at night, to finish the sentences.

- Al-Bitar issued rulings in several cases that occupied public opinion in Lebanon and were the subject of controversy, and in some of them he issued the death sentence against those accused of murder.

February 19, 2021: The Supreme Judicial Council appointed Tariq Al-Bitar as a forensic investigator in the Beirut port crime, to succeed Judge Fadi Sawan, who was dismissed from his post about 4 months after his appointment, due to the legitimate suspicion cases (requests for the response of the court body) submitted against him.

- Al-Bitar insisted on summoning former Prime Minister Hassan Diab, MPs and former ministers, Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zuaiter and Nohad Al-Machnouk, to investigate the port case.

- Al-Bitar was able to get all the “legitimate suspicion” lawsuits filed against him by the defendants, namely Nohad Al-Machnouk, Ghazi Zuaiter, Ali Hassan Khalil and Youssef Fenianius, to be dismissed.

Hezbollah..a threatening message

- Hezbollah supporters considered that Judge Al-Bitar revives the experience of the international investigations into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which led to the condemnation of Hezbollah figures.

- The pace of political debate in the country escalated after information was circulated that a Hezbollah figure sent a threatening message to Al-Bitar inside the Beirut Justice Palace, stating that the group would remove him from the investigation.

September 21, 2021: The Public Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, asked Al-Bitar to prepare a report on what is being circulated regarding this threat.

September 2021: Nohad Al-Mashnouq submitted a request to the Court of Appeal in Beirut to dismiss Al-Bitar from the case, but the appeals court rejected the request, so Al-Bitar resumed his work.

October 2021: The two representatives of the Amal movement, former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former Minister of Works Ghazi Zuaiter, submitted to the court a second request to disqualify Al-Bitar from the case, given that the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers is the reference for their trial.

Al-Bitar suspended the investigation sessions until the Court of Cassation decided on the request for his disqualification.

October 11, 2021: Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah sharply criticized Judge Al-Bitar, accusing him of being "biased and politicized, and he will not reach the truth in the investigation of the explosion."

October 12, 2021: Al-Bitar issued an arrest warrant against the former Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, for refusing to appear before him for investigation.

Part of the demonstrations by the supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal movement in Beirut against Al-Bitar (French)

Refusal to disqualify Al-Bitar.. Clashes and deaths

October 14, 2021: The First Chamber of the Civil Court of Cassation in Beirut rejected the request to dismiss Al-Bitar.

Demonstrations by supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal movement took place in Beirut against Al-Bitar.

- Other political forces announced the dismissal of Al-Bitar, led by the Lebanese Forces Party, which called on the government as a whole to bear its responsibility in refusing to bow to Hezbollah's intimidation.

Clashes with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades erupted between gunmen in the Shiyah-Ain al-Remmaneh area, resulting in the killing of 5 people and the injury of 20 others.

The army intensified its deployment in the area, and called on civilians to evacuate the streets, warning that anyone who shoots will be targeted.

- The scene revived the painful memory of the Lebanese during the civil war (1975-1989), when the regions were like sectarian and political camps separated between Muslim and Christian parties and currents.

- Lebanese President Michel Aoun made contacts with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Ministers of Defense and Interior.

- Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on everyone to calm down and not be drawn into sedition for any reason, and requested an emergency meeting of the Central Security Council to discuss the situation.