Beirut (agencies)
Yesterday, Lebanese protesters stormed the Palace of Justice building in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to demand the speedy investigation of the explosion in the port of Beirut.
The families of the victims and the wounded in the port explosion, accompanied by a number of activists, staged a sit-in in front of the Palace of Justice in Beirut, and raised Lebanese flags and pictures of the victims.
The people closed the entrances to the Palace of Justice, then stormed it to demand a speedy decision on the response requests submitted against the judicial investigative judge, Tariq Al-Bitar, which led to his hand being stopped about two months ago.
He called on the people to support justice and expedite the resolution of response requests that obstruct the investigation and justice process, and support the judicial investigative judge, Tariq Al-Bitar, to resume his work and investigations.
The people announced that they would not leave the Palace of Justice building before Judge Rola Nasri came to the Palace of Justice to decide on the response requests submitted against Judge Al-Bitar.
It is noteworthy that an explosion rocked the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, which damaged a number of streets in the capital, killing more than 200 people, wounding more than 6,000, and leaving 300,000 people homeless.
Last October, Judge Al-Bitar issued an arrest warrant in absentia against the former minister, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, in the case of the Beirut port explosion.
In another context, the Lebanese Council of Ministers approved the draft general budget law for the year 2022 in a session held at Baabda Palace under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister
The Republic, Michel Aoun, and the presence of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who referred it to Parliament.
During the session, Aoun stressed that “what is required at this stage is to focus efforts to address the people’s living and social issues that burden them and cause them daily suffering, hence the necessity of finding sustainable solutions to them.”
He considered, “It is important that the draft budget be accompanied by the financial and economic recovery plan, which is under discussion and preparation by the task force assigned to it.
headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, provided that it includes: determining losses and how they are distributed by the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors, with my insistence not to harm small depositors.
He pointed out that the recovery plan should include restructuring banks, recapitalizing and restructuring the Banque du Liban, structural and structural reforms, combating corruption, starting with a criminal audit, and an executive plan for the social safety net.
In addition, the International Monetary Fund yesterday indicated progress in its talks with Lebanon, stressing at the same time the need for in-depth work to reach an agreement on a support plan that saves Lebanon from its catastrophic economic and social crisis.
“I would like to say that these talks are progressing well, but the coming period requires in-depth work,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said during a press conference.
The spokesman explained that these are ongoing talks, but the task will end at the end of this week.
“We will continue our close cooperation to help the authorities prepare a reform program aimed at addressing Lebanon’s economic and financial difficulties,” he added.
In turn, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati pointed to difficulties in agreeing on an important financial recovery plan to get Lebanon out of the devastating economic collapse, describing it as a “suicide operation.”