Syriac Maronite Patriarch al-Rai: Those responsible for Beirut port explosion will not be allowed to go unpunished

BEIRUT — During Sunday Mass, Syriac Maronite Patriarch Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rai called on Judge Tariq al-Bitar, the head of the investigation into the 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion — which killed hundreds, injured thousands, and caused billions of euros in damage — to continue his work to uncover the truth, issue a decision, and obtain assistance from any international authority that can help ensure justice is done for the victims and their families. The corruption and negligence that led to the explosion will not be allowed to go unpunished, no matter how long it takes.

Patriarch al-Rai has long called for the Lebanese judiciary to be free from political interference and sectarian activity.

Judge al-Bitar resumed his investigation on 23 January following a 13-month delay due to high-level legal controversy and political pressure following his filing charges against a number of senior officials.

Last week, the families of the victims of the explosion, alongside a number of supportive members of parliament, organized a protest in front of the Palace of Justice in Beirut after the Attorney General Ghassan Oweidat decided to release all those arrested pending investigation into the incident.

Although he ordered those released to remain in Lebanon and place themselves at the disposal of the Judicial Council, demonstrators felt the decision was a miscarriage of justice. They raised the Lebanese flag, blackened with pictures of the victims of the explosion as an expression of mourning, both for the victims and for the injustice being done to their memories by the judiciary, as they put it.

Background on the Blast

On 4 August 2020, a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital.

The blast is believed to have been caused by 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored in the port after it was seized from a ship in 2013. On Tuesday, the stored chemicals detonated after a fire broke out in the warehouse in which it was stored.

The explosive cargo was originally carried by a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship that had left Georgia on its way to Mozambique with a crew of 8 Ukrainians and a Russian.

The ship was found unseaworthy during an inspection and the voyage was prohibited, but the charterer lost interest in the cargo. The ship docked in Beirut in October 2013.

A Beirut judge ruled that the ship’s remaining crew can return home after nearly a year without a ship. In 2014, the cargo was brought ashore as a precaution where it was stored. According to court documents, Lebanese officials knew of the cargo and the danger it posed but failed to properly dispose of it.