Lebanon’s Justice Minister: Hezbollah explosives shipment a violation of national security

Lebanon's Justice Minister Adel Nassar vowed to pursue an investigation into a shipment of Hezbollah explosives to the end, saying the probe was expanding as he pressed for the case to be referred to the Judicial Council on national security grounds.

“There are no limits to the investigation,” Nassar told Asharq Al-Awsat, insisting that political pressure would not interfere with the judiciary’s work.

Nassar said the scale of the case and the dangers posed by the explosives justified referring it to the Judicial Council, which handles cases involving state security.

He stressed that the proposed referral would proceed separately from the ongoing investigation, expressing full confidence in the Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj and Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Claude Ghanem.

“The investigation is continuing and expanding,” he said, citing commitments by President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Justice Ministry to ensure it proceeds without limits or political interference.

“This is fundamental to us,” Nassar said. “We consider it a violation of national security, which falls within the Judicial Council’s jurisdiction.”

He insisted the proposed referral rested on legal, not political, grounds.

Nassar said he raised the issue at the previous cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail, winning support from ministers affiliated with the Lebanese Forces.

He subsequently filed a request with the cabinet’s General Secretariat to place the referral on the agenda of Thursday’s meeting at the presidential palace, chaired by Aoun.

The move would establish two parallel tracks: the ongoing judicial investigation and a separate judicial-administrative process requiring cabinet approval to transfer the case to the Judicial Council.

If approved, the military judiciary would relinquish jurisdiction and the case would automatically pass to the Judicial Council.

Nassar said the constitution governed cabinet deliberations and that the referral would not obstruct the investigation.

“We are open to discussion in the cabinet, in accordance with constitutional rules, until the government reaches its decision,” he said.

Nassar warned that the shipment posed serious risks, both because of the dangers of transporting and storing large quantities of explosives and the uncertainty surrounding their intended use.

Moving such quantities threatened the areas they passed through and their destinations, he said, while storing them in a populated area endangered residents.

He also raised concerns that the explosives could be linked to a broader operation.

“There are suspicions about their intended use, whether for assassinations or bombings inside the country,” he said, stressing that investigators had yet to establish their intended purpose.

A third possibility was their use in military operations, he added, citing Hezbollah’s statements that the explosives were intended for fighting Israel.

Nassar said either domestic attacks or military operations could threaten national security.

“The cabinet has been clear in its decisions prohibiting military and armed activities outside the framework of the state,” he said.

“Whether intended for use inside Lebanon or in military operations that could provide pretexts for Israeli wars against Lebanon, both constitute a threat to national and state security and a violation of applicable laws.”

Figures close to Hezbollah have attacked the proposed referral, but Nassar rejected political confrontation, insisting the case must be handled on its legal merits.

Technically, he said, the investigation concerns the seizure, transportation and storage of explosives and determining their intended use — matters that provide legal grounds for referral to the Judicial Council.

He dismissed concerns that transferring the case could water down the investigation.

“The judiciary will pursue the investigation to the end in accordance with established procedures. We have complete confidence in the judges and the investigations,” he said.

Political disputes, however intense, would not prevent investigators from expanding the probe or taking the steps necessary to address the dangers the explosives posed to society and security, he added.

Nassar also pledged to protect judges from political interference or pressure, regardless of its source or whether it was intended to influence their work positively or negatively.

“There is absolutely no political direction being given to the judiciary in this case or any other,” he said.

Nassar defended the investigation and proposed referral despite Hezbollah’s objections, including criticism voiced by its lawmakers last week after the explosives were seized.

He pointed to the government’s policy statement, which identifies exclusive state control over weapons and the authority to decide on war and peace as conditions for building state institutions.

“The state is building itself,” he said.

“What we are doing is a judicial process conducted in accordance with applicable laws. I do not interfere in the substance of investigations. My duty is to create the appropriate conditions for judges to pursue any case to the end.”