UFL Has Officially Become a Plaintiff in Seaport Lawsuit.. President of Beirut Bar to Reconsider His Stance

United for Lebanon (UFL) held a press conference on Thursday, September 3, 2020, at their office in Beirut's Adlieh area, on the prospect of one of their lawyers joining the public prosecution in the Beirut port explosion case in front of Judicial Investigator Judge Fadi Sawwan. The press conference also highlighted the latest developments on the Attorney General's stepping down, and the surprising stands of the President of Beirut Bar association, Melhem Khalaf.

Sally Kourfaly, UFL's Media and Public Relations Coordinator, spoke in the press conference alongside Attorney Rami Ollaik, UFL's founder, who has become a plaintiff in the explosion case.

Kourfaly explained the steps the lawsuit went through since first filing it in front of the First Investigative Judge in Beirut Charbel Abi Samra on August 11, 2020, with the courage UFL attorneys have had in pushing the lawsuit all the way through until getting partly validated by the judicial investigator, going against all the odds.

Having current and previous prime ministers, ministers, army and security forces top commanders, top-rank judges, among others as defendants, has caused enormous pressures on the UFL team aiming at nullifying the lawsuit, even, surprisingly, by the President of Beirut Bar Khalaf. But the intervention of the Head of the Higher Judiciary Council Judge Souhail Abboud has culminated in the breakthrough of validating the lawsuit and having Ollaik as plaintiff.

Still to this day, and after the five-day period for unveiling the investigation's results turned into a month, with the responsibility being tossed around, Ollaik elaborated on how UFL's perseverance paid off. In addition to being validated as a legal party in the case, UFL attorneys have been following up on their request to have the Attorney General step aside; another relevant solid lawsuit shall be filed Monday, September 7, 2020. As well and given the mounting pressures and intricacies, Ollaik has called on the intervention of the President of the State to further facilitate the investigation procedures, referring to an earlier statement of President Aoun's pledge of a thorough investigation to the Lebanese people.

Ollaik was vocal about how the Beirut Bar President, Khalaf, has been part of the pressures on UFL attorneys instead of being their main support. This was manifested by asking Ollaik repeatedly to be questioned by a Bar representative every time the seaport suit was taking a positive turn, mainly soon after being hosted by local TVs to raise awareness about the suit. Ollaik criticized the Bar President, who claimed his position through the revolutionaries' voices mainly advocating combating corruption, for taking the side of the corrupt rather than that of the advocates of anti-corruption. He called on Khalaf to reconsider his recent stance.

Finally, UFL extended an invitation to the Lebanese people to unite in harboring a culture of accountability, especially those directly affected by the seaport explosion who were asked in turn to join the lawsuit, including non nationals who suffered any damages. With regards to this, UFL lawyers have been made ready and willing to represent any of them free of charge.