Lebanon's top prosecutor has charged the judge leading the inquiry into the 2020 Beirut port blast and ordered the release of suspects in custody.
On Monday, Judge Tarek Bitar unexpectedly restarted the probe after a 13-month suspension and filed unspecified charges against eight officials, including Ghassan Oweidat. Mr Oweidat accused Judge Bitar of acting beyond his jurisdiction and imposed a travel ban on him. He told AFP news agency that the judge was "rebelling against the judiciary and usurping power," and that he had filed charges in order to "prevent sedition."
No one has yet been held accountable for the blast on August 4, 2020, which killed at least 218 people and injured more than 6,000 others. It is widely believed that officials and politicians were aware of the combustible chemical's existence and the danger it posed but that they failed to secure, remove, or destroy it.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an impartial international fact-finding mission to investigate the blast.
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