The investigating judge of the UN Court, Tarek Bitar, postponed, respectively, for 23 and 25 this month, the interrogations of the former director of the army’s intelligence service, Camilla Daher, and the commander-in-chief of the army, Jean Kahwaghi. Judge Bitar called two military men yesterday, but only their respective lawyers, Mark Gabka and Antoine Toubia, appeared before him. The hearings were postponed for the first time on 23 July, with each of the lawyers citing a strike by the Beirut Bar Association. The Bar Council has since decided to make an exception to the issue of the double explosion at the port of Beirut.
The lawyer for the commander-in-chief of the army, Antoine Toubia, contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, points out that yesterday he asked Tarek Bitar to grant him additional time to file procedural exceptions, while Camilla Daher’s spokesman said they had submitted such exceptions on the same day. …
When asked what his appeal to dismiss Jin Kahwagi’s case for formal defect will be based on, Me Tubia points out that he intends to submit “documents proving the innocence of the former commander-in-chief of the army in the case of a double blast in the port.” When asked whether this concerns the merits of the case, and not its form, the lawyer replies that the decision on their qualifications will depend on the investigating judge. “Tarek Bitar could choose either to simultaneously consider the merits of the case and the exceptions that I would present to him, or to request the opinion of the prosecutor’s office regarding the further steps on my appeal,” he points out, stressing that “this opinion is not binding on him.” I, Tubia, told OLJ that he should have received these documents by the 25 August hearing, although he said it might take longer because they would need to be collected from the archives of the army command. The lawyer adds that in order to become familiar with this, he can, if necessary, ask Judge Bitar for additional time.
In an MTV interview yesterday, Me Tubia essentially said that the port of Beirut is not under the command of the army. He also referred to Syria’s responsibility for the use of 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate stolen from hangar 12, as well as Hezbollah’s involvement in the delivery of these explosives to Syria. An informed source told OLJ that these remarks “embarrassed” Mr. Kahwagi, who also reacted to them by stating that “they do not represent (him)”. This is a “personal analysis,” added the former military man. The aforementioned source confirms to OLJ that Me Tubia raised this topic “under (his) own responsibility”.
With regard to the dossier related to Camilla Daher, his lawyer, Mark Habka, claims that during yesterday’s hearing, he presented Judge Bitar with formal exceptions aimed at preventing the continuation of the proceedings. “I have submitted documents confirming that my client has performed duties related to his function,” he said, stressing that “the elements constituting the crime attributed to Mr. Daher have not been collected”. So I, Khabka, expect to know if the investigating judge will accept his appeal on the 23 August for the non-conformity in the form, or whether Camilla Daher will still be implicated.
The investigating judge of the UN Court, Tarek Bitar, postponed, respectively, for 23 and 25 this month, the interrogations of the former director of the army’s intelligence service, Camilla Daher, and the commander-in-chief of the army, Jean Kahwaghi. Yesterday Judge Bitar called two military men, but only their lawyers, Mark Gabka and …