STL to Hold Hearing on Joinder of Merhi, Ayyash et al. Cases
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Monday that its Trial Chamber will hold a session on Tuesday, January 14 to hear "preliminary submissions from the Prosecution and counsel for Hassan Habib Merhi on the possible joinder of the case against Mr. Merhi with the Ayyash et al. case."
Both cases relate to the February 14, 2005 bomb attack in Beirut, which killed 22 individuals, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and injured 226 others.
The hearing, which will commence at 11:30 (Central European Time), will be held in public, but the judges may decide to go into closed session if confidential matters need to be discussed, the STL said.
On July 31, 2013, STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen confirmed an indictment submitted by STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell against Merhi. And on December 20, the Trial Chamber issued a decision to try Merhi in absentia after the Lebanese authorities failed to apprehend him.
In late December, the Prosecution filed an application to the Trial Chamber in the Ayyash et al. case to join the two cases.
The trial in the Ayyash et al. case will begin on Thursday.
Merhi is charged with a number of crimes including "the crime of conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act."
He is alleged to have acted in a conspiracy with Hizbullah members Mustafa Amin Badreddine, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi, and Assad Hassan Sabra in relation to the attack on February 14, 2005.
The accused Merhi is alleged to have coordinated the preparation of the purported claim of responsibility as part of the preparations for and in furtherance of the attack.
The STL has described Merhi as “a supporter of Hizbullah” who was born on December 12, 1965 in Beirut. It said he has resided in Burj al-Barajneh.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has rejected the STL, describing it as an American-Israeli conspiracy against his party. He has vowed never to cooperate with the tribunal, saying that the suspects will never be found.
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