> ## 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. # Six Years After the Beirut Blast, Lebanon Is Finally Approaching the Indictment - URL: https://beirutwire.com/six-years-after-the-beirut-blast-lebanon-is-finally-approaching-the-indictment/ - Published: 2026-09-06T05:43:19.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-06T05:43:19.000Z - Description: Six years after the Beirut port explosion, Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation has finally reached its last procedural stage. Bitar closed the investigation in March and sent the file to the Court of Cassation prosecutor’s office to review before he issues the long-awaited indictment. - Author: Beirut Wire - Tags: Politics More than six years after the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion, the investigation has entered what officials describe as its final phase. Investigating Judge **Tarek Bitar completed his investigation on March 30, 2026**, closing the evidence-gathering stage after years of legal battles, political obstruction and repeated attempts to remove him from the case. He then transferred the full file to the Court of Cassation prosecutor’s office for its final review. That step matters because, under Lebanese procedure, the prosecutor’s office must now submit its assessment of the case before Bitar can issue his final indictment. The prosecution’s opinion is mandatory, but it is **not binding**: Bitar can ultimately disagree with it when deciding who should stand trial and on what charges. The investigation itself began after the catastrophic explosion on **August 4, 2020**, when hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut port detonated, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands and destroying large parts of the capital. From the beginning, the central questions were not only how the explosives arrived and remained at the port for years, but **which political, security, judicial and administrative officials knew about the danger and failed to act**. Judge Fadi Sawan initially led the investigation, but he was removed in 2021 following legal challenges by officials he sought to question. Bitar was appointed in his place and soon encountered the same resistance. He attempted to question former ministers, security officials and senior political figures, triggering a wave of lawsuits that repeatedly suspended his work. The confrontation reached its most dramatic point in **January 2023**. After more than a year of paralysis, Bitar unexpectedly resumed the investigation and brought new charges against senior officials. Then-public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat responded by charging Bitar himself with abuse of power, ordering the release of detainees in the case and instructing judicial police not to cooperate with him. The investigation was effectively frozen again. For years, that legal confrontation left the Beirut blast probe trapped in institutional deadlock. Families of victims continued holding monthly demonstrations, accusing Lebanon’s political establishment of using immunity, procedural challenges and influence over the judiciary to prevent accountability. The breakthrough came gradually in late 2025 and early 2026\. Courts reviewed the case against Bitar, and in **February 2026 an indictment chamber confirmed that he had not usurped his authority**, effectively clearing one of the largest legal obstacles preventing him from finishing the investigation. By March, Bitar had completed his hearings and closed the investigation. The case file — reportedly running to several thousand pages — was transferred to the Court of Cassation prosecutor’s office, where Attorney General **Mohammad Saab** was assigned to review it and prepare the prosecution’s final submissions. That review is what is happening now. On the sixth anniversary of the explosion, Justice Minister **Adel Nassar said he expected the indictment within 60 to 90 days**, based on information available to him. That timetable would place the expected publication roughly between **early October and early November**, although no exact date has been officially announced. President Joseph Aoun has also increased political pressure for the process to conclude. On August 3, he said the indictment had become a necessity that **“cannot be delayed any longer,”** calling on the judiciary to demonstrate its independence and deliver justice to the victims. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam similarly said there should be no protection for any official regardless of position. The coming indictment will be the most important document produced by the investigation so far. It should set out Bitar’s reconstruction of what happened, identify the people he believes bear criminal responsibility, specify the charges against them and send the case to the Judicial Council for trial. That does **not** mean verdicts are imminent. The indictment is essentially the end of the investigative phase and the beginning of the trial phase. Defendants will still have to appear before the Judicial Council, where evidence will be contested before final judgments are eventually issued. But politically and historically, the indictment could still be a watershed moment. For the first time since the blast, Lebanon may receive an official judicial account detailing **who knew what, when they knew it, what they failed to do and who should be held criminally responsible**. After six years of obstruction, legal warfare and repeated paralysis, the Beirut blast case is therefore closer than it has ever been to producing its first comprehensive judicial reckoning.