Ibrahim Hoteit, the spokesman for the families of the victims of the Beirut port confirmed that “what happened today is expected amid the presence of the corrupt system, in order to prevent us from reaching the truth and justice, and therefore we are going to the Court of Appeal.

Hoteit hoped that the court would refuse the demand so Judge Tarek Bitar can continue investigations in order to reach the desired results.”

As a result of the suspension of the judicial investigator in the crime of the Beirut port explosion, Hoteit indicated that “what happened today was resented by the people, and in any case, we have a sit-in next Wednesday in front of the judiciary, and it would escalate in several directions.”

Hoteit stressed that “the people are not asking for more than truth and justice, with a crime that destroyed half of the capital, killing 220 victims and injuring 6,000, some of whom are still in the coma, and some of them suffer from major disabilities. It is very shameful for the pillars of this system to stand in front of immunities, and in the face of crime and pain. They were supposed to respect people’s pain and automatically go to court.”

He added: “We live amid a gang system and we only hope that real change would happen, and despite our lack of faith in the Lebanese judiciary and its integrity, there are some honest judges, including Judge Bitar, who demonstrated courage, integrity and morality in his work.”

William Noun, the brother of the victim Joe Noun, told “Sputnik” that “the most important thing is that the Court of Appeal decides rapidly to continue the probe, and the most important thing is that this file remains with Judge Tarek Bitar, because he adheres to the file and faces the political class and all people with the documents he has.”

In this regard, the Lebanese are waiting for the Court of Appeal in Beirut to decide whether or not to accept the response suit that MP Nohad  Machnouk submitted to the Court of Appeal, requesting the judge’s dismissal of the file.