Beirut, Lebanon – The judge investigating a devastating explosion at Beirut’s port in August has doubled down on a decision to interrogate the country’s outgoing prime minister and former ministers despite a campaign against him by Lebanon’s political and religious elite.
Judge Fadi Sawan on Monday set new dates for the questioning of the high-profile political figures after they declined to comply with interrogations he had planned to begin on the same day.
The judge had last week charged Prime Minister Hassan Diab, former public works ministers Ghazi Zaeiter and Youssef Fenianos and former Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil with criminal negligence in connection with the explosion that killed 200 people, wounded more than 6,000 and wrecked large parts of the Lebanese capital.