Khalil, Zoaiter to Sue Three Judges in Port Blast Lawsuits Saga

Ex-Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoaiter will file a lawsuit against Court of Appeals Judge Nassib Elia and Civil Court of Cassation Judges Jeanette Hanna and Naji Eid, al-Akhbar newspaper said Monday.

The suit will accuse the three judges of committing “legal violations” in dealing with the recusal lawsuits previously filed by Khalil and Zoaiter, and will require the referral of Elia, Hanna and Eid to judicial inspection.

Khalil and Zoaiter, charged with negligence over the Beirut port explosion, have repeatedly filed requests to dismiss the lead investigator into Beirut’s port blast, Judge Tarek Bitar, but the Court of Cassation and the Court of Appeals dismissed the lawsuits.

- Defendants versus victims’ families -

On the other hand, the lawyers of the families of the port blast victims will also take a host of legal measures against Court of Appeals judge Habib Mezher to penalize him for “committing a blatant violation” and to refer him to judicial inspection.

Bitar's probe into the port case was suspended last week after Mezher notified him of a lawsuit filed against him by ex-minister Youssef Fenianos.

The Court of Appeals head, Judge Habib Rizkallah, later announced that he had “exclusively” tasked Mezher with handling a recusal lawsuit against Judge Nassib Elia.