Confrontation as Journalist Asks Al-Sayyed 'Don't You Fear Returning to The Hague as Suspect?'
The Hague - Naharnet Feature
Former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed did not succeed in attaining the goals he had set by attending the opening sessions of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
Al-Sayyed appeared to be isolated in the gallery where politicians and journalists were seated to follow-up on the trial's work, except for the lawyer of Hassan Merhi, the fifth suspect in Hariri's assassination.
The attendees remarked that al-Sayyed left the gallery for over an hour during Thursday morning's session and did not return to the courtroom in the afternoon.
The former General Security chief, however, commented on former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's statement on the STL's first session.
A reporter tried to provoke al-Sayyed by asking about his impression while watching the images of the explosion that killed Hariri.
"I did not feel a thing,” he responded. “A person who gets imprisoned for four years can no longer be affected by such images.”
"What about those that wear jailed for 11 years?”, the reporter then asked, referring to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
"It depends on what they have committed,” al-Sayyed replied.
The journalist, who is known for her support to Geagea, continued asking al-Sayyed: “Don't you worry about returning back to The Hague as a suspect in Hariri's assassination?”
He said: “Maybe it would be better. Then, I would be able to face the trial as an insider.”
“You know that I never give up my rights,” he added.
“And if Geagea has something to say in the trials he had gone through, he only has to ask for reopening all cases in which he was tried. And I am here to confront the STL and to demand reopening the case of the false witnesses whose testifications caused my imprisonment,” al-Sayyed explained.
"Let Geagea do what I am here to do today if he was really unfairly tried.”
The dialogue between al-Sayyed and the reporter was not interview, but more of a skirmish that was heard by many attendees of the STL's opening session and was commented on during the break.
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