STL: Prosecution Requests Amendment to Indictment to Include Criminal Association Offense
Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has requested the Appeals Chamber to define the crime of “criminal association” following the Prosecution’s recent request to amend the indictment, announced the STL in a statement.
“On February 8, 2012 the Prosecution requested to amend the indictment in a confidential filing only to the pre-trial judge,” it revealed.
The contents of the amended indictment remain confidential, it said.
“The Prosecution is seeking to add a new count to the indictment of ‘criminal association’, which is an offense under the Lebanese Penal Code (article 335),” it explained.
Under the Tribunal’s Rules, the pre-trial judge may ask the Appeals Chamber to deal with such preliminary questions.
This happened last year when the Appeals Chamber was asked to define terrorism and conspiracy, amongst other crimes, added the STL statement.
It clarified that at that time, the Appeals Chamber was not called on to define the crime of “criminal association”.
The pre-trial judge will rely on the Appeals Chamber’s definition in his review of the Prosecution’s request to amend the indictment.
He can confirm or reject the proposed amendments completely or in part, added the tribunal statement.
The statement came in light of media reports on Friday that the STL had issued a new indictment in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The new indictment includes a fifth suspect, who is a military member of Hizbullah, said a security source.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati later received the STL’s Third Annual Report that has been issued by the president of the tribunal and which has been referred to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and Lebanese officials.
General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza denied on Friday that he received a copy of a new indictment in the attacks on the three officials that have been linked to Hariri’s murder.
Mirza stressed to As Safir newspaper that “once he receives anything (new), he will announce it immediately.”
In August, the tribunal released its first indictment in which it accused four Hizbullah members of being involved in Hariri’s 2005 assassination.
Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra are wanted for the February 2005 suicide car bomb attack in Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber.
Ayyash has been named in the indictment as coordinator of the assassination team.
Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges including that of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Oneissi and Sabra faced charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.
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