A brief of today’s news bulletin:

• Two for zero for Judge Bitar at the expense of the political corrupt
• Zahrani facilities fire, a human or contrived error
• Film Festival in Tripoli, a glimmer of light amid the darkness of the city

Once again, the Lebanese judiciary proves that it is up to the stage and its challenges. The decision issued by the Criminal Court of Cassation, which decided to reject the lawsuit submitted by MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zuaiter to dismiss Judge Tarek Bitar, have only one meaning: the judiciary is still resisting the political authority, and the authoritarian mafia that controls the decision in Lebanon.

Therefore, the Lebanese must not lose hope and keep steadfast. The country has not yet emptied of those with clear and firm positions. It is true that the political system is mostly corrupt, and despite everything that has been said and done, it continues to corrupt, but on the other hand, there are judges such as Judge Janet Hanna and her colleagues who have the audacity to say no to bad practices despite all the political pressures and interventions that are exercised against them.

On the other hand, it is no longer permissible for the defendant deputies to continue evading justice in a thousand way. Khalil, Zaiter, and Nohad Machnouk found several ways to avoid appearing before the judicial investigator. They have assaulted all methods, exhausted all means, from immunities to the lawsuits filed for dismissing Bitar and legitimate suspicion, all of which fell completely like the leaves of autumn.

So what do they want next? Let them remember that they are deputies and that they represent the people. By not standing before the judicial investigator, do they give an example of peace to the people who elected them? Let them remember if they are innocent they should not be afraid. Judge Bitar will not oppress them, and the investigation, even if it was a judicial one, is not a final judgment, but rather the final judgment remains for the Judicial Council.

Therefore, you deputies who are fleeing from the judicial investigator: go to the investigation and defend your innocence, because your evasion proves to us day after another that you are afraid of its articles and the measure of justice. This is a pre-charged accusation against you. Do you want to be judged by the people and public opinion before the court condemns you?