> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://beirutwire.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Former President Michel Aoun Could Be Indicted in the Beirut Port Explosion Case - URL: https://beirutwire.com/beirut-port-investigation-moves-closer-to-indictment-after-years-of-delays/ - Published: 2026-09-15T09:50:23.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-16T05:27:37.000Z - Description: Prosecutors have asked Judge Tarek Bitar to charge former President Michel Aoun with criminal negligence over the Beirut port explosion, arguing that he knew about the dangerous ammonium nitrate stored at the port but failed to take sufficient action. - Author: Beirut Wire - Tags: Politics Lebanon’s Beirut port investigation has entered a potentially historic phase, with prosecutors formally asking investigating judge Tarek Bitar to charge former President Michel Aoun over the August 4, 2020 explosion. According to a judicial source cited by AFP, the Court of Cassation prosecution requested that Aoun be charged with criminal negligence because he allegedly knew about the ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut’s port and the danger it posed, but failed to take sufficient action or refer the matter to the Higher Defense Council. The recommendation was included in the prosecution’s lengthy legal submission, delivered this week to Bitar by Judge Mohammad Saab. Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the document runs to 270 pages, with Saab writing “Justice for all” on the envelope before handing it over. The submission does not itself amount to an indictment. Bitar remains free to accept or reject the prosecution’s recommendations when he issues his final charging decision. Judicial sources say he is now reviewing the document before finalizing the indictment that would send the case toward trial before the Judicial Council. Still, the request concerning Aoun represents a significant development. Aoun was president when the explosion occurred. Weeks after the blast, he publicly acknowledged that he had been informed about the dangerous material at the port before August 4, saying that by the time the information reached him, it was already “too late.” The prosecution’s position now raises a more specific legal question: once the president knew that a large quantity of ammonium nitrate was stored in Beirut, did the presidency have an obligation to take additional action to prevent a disaster? Prosecutors apparently believe that question is serious enough for Aoun to face charges. The same submission reportedly addresses the potential responsibility of several other senior political figures. MTV reported that prosecutors considered former Prime Minister Hassan Diab and former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zeaiter and Youssef Fenianos to fall within the jurisdiction of the Judicial Council in relation to the case. That means the next stage could implicate some of the most senior officials who were in power during the years in which the ammonium nitrate remained stored at the port. The August 4 explosion killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated large sections of Beirut after hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored improperly for years detonated. Senior officials had repeatedly received warnings about the hazardous material before the blast. Yet the investigation spent years trapped in political and judicial battles. Bitar faced repeated lawsuits seeking his removal, disputes over whether he had authority to question ministers and senior officials, and an extraordinary confrontation with then-Prosecutor General Ghassan Oueidat in 2023\. At several points, the investigation appeared effectively frozen. That has changed dramatically this year. Bitar formally closed his investigative phase on March 30 and transferred the file to the Court of Cassation prosecution for its legal assessment. Saab’s submission was one of the final procedural steps required before Bitar could move toward the indictment. The contents of that indictment will ultimately determine who actually stands accused. And that distinction matters. Prosecutors have requested that Aoun be charged, but Bitar must still decide whether the evidence justifies including the former president in his final indictment. Any person indicted would still be presumed innocent unless convicted at trial. What is already clear, however, is that the port investigation has moved considerably further than at almost any point since 2020. For years, the central question was whether Lebanon’s judiciary would ever be able to finish the investigation at all. Now the question is increasingly becoming who will actually be sent to trial. If Bitar follows the prosecution’s recommendation regarding Michel Aoun, Lebanon could soon see a former president formally accused in connection with one of the deadliest disasters in the country’s modern history.