Beirut Port Explosion… A new development in the Beirut Port Explosion case

The judicial investigator in the Beirut Port explosion case, Judge Tariq Al-Bitar, went today to Bulgaria to question the owner of the Rhosus ship, which transported a shipment of ammonium nitrate to Lebanon, and whose explosion was the cause of the disaster.
Al-Bitar’s long-awaited move came after a Bulgarian court refused to extradite to Lebanon the Russian-Cypriot shipowner, Igor Grechushkin (48 years old), for questioning regarding the shipment whose explosion on August 4, 2020, killed more than 220 people and injured thousands.
The judicial source said, without revealing his identity, that “Judge Bitar headed to Sofia today, via Istanbul, and will question the ship’s owner tomorrow.”
Al-Bitar left Beirut airport alone, according to the source, “provided that the Lebanese embassy in Sofia provides him with a clerk to record the interrogation report and a translator, and Bulgarian judges will attend the session.”
According to the source, the Lebanese authorities are relying on “Grechushkin’s statement and the information he has about the ammonium nitrate shipment that his ship transported and the party that ordered and financed it.” His interrogation will also allow “to verify whether Beirut is the true destination of the ship” that has been docked for years in the port of the Lebanese capital.
Since the disaster occurred, the Lebanese authorities have attributed the explosion to the storage of huge quantities of ammonium nitrate inside the port without preventive measures following the outbreak of a fire whose causes were unknown. It later became clear that officials at several levels were aware of the dangers of storing the substance and did nothing.
Grechushkin was arrested at Sofia airport in September under an Interpol red notice. The Public Prosecution said at the time that he was wanted by the Lebanese authorities on charges of “bringing explosives into Lebanon, a terrorist act that led to the death of a large number of people.”
Last week, a court in Sofia rejected the Lebanese request for his extradition and ordered his release.