Houthis abduct tribesman over corruption criticism

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BEIRUT: Families of victims of the Beirut port explosion blocked roads in Beirut and Jbeil on Saturday to protest the arrest of their spokesman, William Noun, by Lebanon’s national security agency.

Pressure from protesters, politicians and activists led to his release after 24 hours in detention.

Noun was arrested after a televised statement last Thursday in which he expressed outrage at the obstruction of the investigation into the 2020 port explosion that claimed the life of his firefighter brother Joe.

The massive blast, triggered by the explosion of a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse, left at least 218 people dead and up to $15 billion in property damage.

In his statement, Noun criticized an attempt to appoint a substitute judge for investigator Tarek Bitar, who was removed from office a year ago, and threatened to blow up the courthouse.

His arrest was based on a judicial notice issued by the Attorney General of Beirut, Judge Zaher Hamadeh.

Nouns’ home was also raided by state security agents looking for explosive material.

A political observer told Arab News that Hamadeh bragged about his ties to Hezbollah and the Amal movement.

Hamadeh was a forensic investigator in the case of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Al-Sadr and was touted as a possible replacement for Bitar in the port blast investigation, the Observer said.

Neither President of the Superior Council of the Judiciary Souheil Abboud nor Attorney General Ghassan Ouweidat attended a meeting of the council on Saturday.

In a statement, those present defended Hamadeh’s decision to arrest Noun and condemned what they described as an attack on the work and dignity of judges.

Families of the victims gathered outside the state security headquarters, vowing to stay until Noun is released.

MP Melhem Khalaf, former president of the Bar Association, joined the protesters, saying Nouns’ comments were the result of grief and he didn’t really mean it.

Nouns’ mother, who visited her son while he was in detention, said: William is fine and strong.

She added in tears: Is this how they treat parents who have lost their children? I buried my first son and now my second son is being held. Why? Are we responsible for the explosion? Are we the criminals? If the judges had lost their children, how would they have handled the case?

Residents of Jbeil, Nouns’ hometown, took to the streets on Friday to protest his detention.

Clashes broke out between demonstrators and members of the security forces, who intervened to open the roads.

The families of the victims of the port explosion claimed that Noun had been lured into a trap set by a corrupt and failing justice system.

His detention was an attempt to frighten and subjugate the families of the martyrs, in order to discourage them and undermine their resolve to uncover the truth, they added.

Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called the detention of Nouns a foolish and shameful act.

He called for the completion of the investigation and the arrest of the real criminals responsible for the deaths at the port.

Elias Bou Saab, deputy speaker of parliament, described Nouns’ detention in this outrageous way as dubious idiocy committed for malicious purposes, while former labor minister Camille Abousleiman said the arrest was a joke and an insolence.

MP Bilal Abdallah said the state has turned into a police state in the case of the port explosion and the way the families of the victims are being treated.

Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel said: The fact that they are changing roles and turning victims’ families into criminals means that we have reached the final chapters of the law of the jungle.

The investigating judge in the case of the Beirut port explosion has been subject to removal requests after issuing a series of subpoenas against politicians and security agents.

The suspects summoned to appear, including deputies affiliated with the Amal movement, refused to be questioned.

Hezbollah and the Amal movement took to the streets to protest Bitars’ decisions, leading to a bloody clash more than a year ago that hampered the investigation.

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