Bitar Questions Daher over Port Blast

Lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast, Tarek al-Bitar, questioned the detained Customs chief, Badri Daher, over the colossal Beirut port blast, media reports said on Tuesday.

The questioning session lasted for seven hours and commenced at 11:00 pm on Monday, in the presence of Daher’s lawyers Munir Hamdan and George Khoury, and the prosecutors, said the National News Agency.

It is the first time that Daher appeared before the judicial investigator since his arrest on the third day after the August 4 explosion.

He had submitted three requests for interrogation before the former judicial investigator, Judge Fadi Sawan, without response, said NNA.

Last week, Bitar interrogated four detained port officials.

They were identified as the port’s Director General Hassan Qureitem, Operations Director Samer Raad, cargo department head and hangars officer Mustafa Farshoukh, and guard chief Mohammed al-Aouf.

Bitar has recently replaced Judge Fadi Sawwan, who was removed as lead investigative judge following political pressure and controversy that followed charges that he pressed in the case against caretaker PM Hassan Diab and ex-ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zoaiter and Youssef Fenianos.