Bitar's Fate at Stake as Judge 'Opposed to Him' Handles Recusal Suit

The confrontation between Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar and those whom he has charged appears to have entered a critical phase, media reports said on Friday.

“Court of Cassation head Judge Suheil Abboud has lost control of the course of things after he managed them for months, when he used to influence the decisions of judges chosen by him to head courts looking into recusal requests. Those judges belonged to a certain sect and were under his authority,” al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted judicial officials as saying.

“After the new recusal request against Bitar was filed through Court of Appeals head Judge Habib Mezher, a Higher Judicial Council member known for his opposition to Bitar’s course, Abboud has lost control of the Bitar battle and of the possibility to control its course, and things are leaning towards (Bitar’s) permanent removal from the port file,” the officials added.

The lawsuit’s referral to Mezher “would not have happened had it not been for the interference of certain sides and the emergence of major political developments that forced the referral of the lawsuit to a judge whose orientations and opposition to Bitar’s work are known,” judicial sources told al-Joumhouria.

“It seems that political pressures have reached the highest extent and the course of the successive lawsuits and urgent decisions against Bitar are not in his interest and are taking a near-certain course toward his recusal,” the daily added.

The Court of Appeals had on Thursday accepted a lawsuit by filed by ex-minister Youssef Fenianos, a defendant in the case. The lawsuit requests Bitar’s removal. That automatically suspends the investigation until a decision is reached. Similar temporary suspensions have plagued the course of the probe over the past weeks but previous cases to remove the judge have been turned down.

The court this time asked Bitar to hand over the details of the case to enable it to review the lawsuit, according to a copy of the decision seen by The Associated Press.

The Beirut-based right group Legal Agenda warned that the court's request to see the full content of the investigation violates the secrecy of the probe. The group also said the head of the court's known opinions critical of Bitar may constitute bias.