In a statement released on Thursday, the Lebanese Parliament addressed what it called a “campaign” against it after a wave of criticism targeted MPs for signing a petition to form an investigative committee in parallel with Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the Beirut blast.
The petition was seen as a way to help suspects and those wanted in the Beirut Blast investigation escape justice.
The hashtag نواب_النيترات# (The Nitrate MPs) trended on social media as people began shaming the MPs for going against the investigator Judge Bitar, who seeks to prosecute several high profile political and security figures.
Following the public and media pressure, MPs began retracting their names from the request, stating that they did not want to interfere with the investigation. This eventually led to the petition being dropped on Wednesday evening.
However, in its latest statement, the Parliament lashed out at critics of the move and accused them of belonging to a “known” group that aims to mislead the truth by making it seem like MPs want to cover up their crimes or sabotage the investigation.
The Parliament then called on Judge Bitar to put an end to “this abuse” which is an offense to the families of the victims of the Beirut blast, who have the right to know what happened on August 4 and who brought the ammonium nitrate to the Beirut Port.
The Parliament went on to say that it was also affected by the Beirut Blast and that its “first task is to form an investigation committee in accordance with Law No. 13” and conduct a full investigation void of influence and investment of political and populist agendas that would obstruct justice.
