Beirut court orders ex-ministers to pay compensation for obstructing port blast probe

A Beirut court has ordered two former ministers, Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, to pay compensation for intentionally obstructing the judicial investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion.

Both men are senior figures in the Amal Movement, a key ally of Hezbollah, and were ministers during periods relevant to the blast and its aftermath.

The court ruled that Khalil and Zeaiter abused their legal rights by repeatedly filing petitions aimed at paralysing the investigation, including multiple requests to remove the original lead investigator, Judge Fadi Sawan.

Each was ordered to pay 10 billion Lebanese lira, around £83,000, in compensation to Judge Dania Dahdah, who filed the case. Dahdah stated in her submission that she reserves the right to waive the compensation in favour of the blast victims.

Sawan was removed from the case in February 2021 by Lebanon’s Court of Cassation after facing repeated accusations of bias from senior political figures, including Khalil and Zeaiter.

Judge Tarek Bitar, who replaced Sawan, was subsequently targeted by a wave of similar lawsuits and legal challenges. By December 2021, these actions had effectively frozen the investigation.

The ruling found that the successive legal challenges were not filed in good faith but were intended to delay and obstruct the probe by repeatedly triggering procedural suspensions before higher courts.

After years of political and judicial paralysis, Bitar resumed the investigation in January last year, summoning senior officials and security figures in connection with the blast.

The move followed the formation of a new government that many observers say reflects a shift in the political balance that had previously shielded powerful figures from accountability.

The 4 August 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port killed at least 235 people, wounded more than 6,500 others, and damaged or destroyed nearly 80,000 buildings across the capital.