by By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton - voanews.com -- Families of those who died in last year's deadly explosion in Beirut protested for a second day Friday and denounced the removal of a judge leading the probe into the blast. The families released a statement saying that the appointment of a new judge would lead to a delay in the probe of the August 4 port explosion, caused by the detonation of a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate at the port. "On the ill-fated date of February 18, the sound of criminal corruption echoed and its hero this time was the politicized judiciary in Lebanon," Ibrahim Hoteit, the families' spokesman, read at the protest near the justice ministry. Hoteit's brother Tharwat was killed in the explosion, which leveled large parts of Beirut, killed more than 200 people and wounded more than 6,000. The court decision Thursday to replace Judge Fadi Sawan blew up "what remains of conscience and confidence between us and this rotten judiciary," Hoteit said. Judge Tarek Bitar was appointed Friday by Lebanon's justice minister to lead the investigation. Relatives of victims of Beirut port explosion burn tires during a protest, after a Lebanese court removed the judge leading the probe in the investigation.

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