Judge Ghassan Oweidat, the Discriminatory Public Prosecutor, has asked Judge Tarek Bitar, the judicial investigator in the Beirut port explosion last year, to prepare a report on what is being circulated about a verbal threat message that is said to have been received by Bitar via mediation from Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit.
This has come after a Lebanese journalist revealed on Twitter this afternoon that Hezbollah sent a threatening letter to Judge Tarek Bitar, stating that he would be uprooted from his position, if he continued to go overboard.
As soon as journalist Edmond Sassine wrote this tweet, one of the pro-Hezbollah journalists commented and criticized him before Sassine getting back to confirm that he was confident in the information. Sassine stressed that Wafiq Safa, the official of Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit, contacted the judge and threatened to dismiss him from his position if he completed his procedures.
It is noteworthy that a few days ago, Bitar issued an arrest warrant in absentia against Youssef Fenianos, the former Minister of Public Works and Transport, after he refused to appear before him for interrogation, despite being duly informed of the date of the session.
Bitar has also requested to interrogate Hassan Diab, the former Prime Minister. He has also demanded the Parliament to lift the immunity of three MPs who previously held ministerial positions: Ali Hassan Khalil (Finance) and Ghazi Zaiter (works), who are allies of Hezbollah, as well as Nohad Machnouk (interior). This demand has come in preparation for prosecuting them and initiating charges.
In addition, the judge has asked the Tripoli Bar Association to grant him permission to prosecute Fenianos and the Minister of Interior to grant him approval to file a lawsuit against Abbas Ibrahim, a major general who has been the general director of the General Directorate of General Security. Both of these figures that the judge wants to go after are close to Hezbollah.
Observers believe that these requests disturbed Hezbollah, especially as they affected allies and close associates of the party. The matter that prompted Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the party, to question the credibility of the investigations weeks ago.
