Lebanese Judge Rejects Release of Suspects Related to Beirut Port Explosion

A man stands next to graffiti at the damaged port area in the aftermath of the massive explosion in Beirut [Hannah McKay/Reuters]

Military Investigation Judge Fadi Sawwan rejected on Monday motions for the release of three detainees in the case of the August 4 Beirut port explosion that killed at least 190 people and wounding thousands more.

The judge ruled that the three suspects stay in custody.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said Sawwan also heard the testimonies of four witnesses and will question more witnesses on Tuesday.

There are 25 suspects detained in the Beirut port probe, including four military officers in addition to former director of Lebanese customs Shafik Merhi, Lebanese customs administration director-general Badri Daher, director of the Beirut Port, Hassan Koreitem, and director of Land and Maritime Transport Abdel Hafiz Kaissi.

Last week, Sawwan listened to the lengthy testimony of caretaker PM Hassan Diab during a meeting at the Grand Serail.

Sources with knowledge of the matter told Asharq Al-Awsat that the briefing focused on the correspondence Diab received from security agencies on the stockpile of ammonium nitrate at the port. The PM informed the judge about the orders he gave the agencies and concerned ministries to tackle the stockpile and the reasons why they were not removed from warehouse 12 before they blew up on August 4.

The Lebanese government has attributed the enormous blast to the 2,700 tons of the chemical compound ammonium nitrate that had been left lying in a warehouse in Beirut port since 2013.

Lebanese authorities are now probing reasons why such highly explosive material was neglected and stored unsafely for years to detonate in a mushroom cloud, wrecking swathes of the city and fueling anger at a political class already blamed for the country’s economic meltdown.