Report: STL Trials to Kick Off by End of 2012
President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath informed President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the trials will kick off before the end of the year, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to the daily, Baragwanath expressed relief over the work of the STL, praising the Lebanese authorities’ cooperation with the court.
The Hague-based tribunal indicted Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra and sent arrest warrants for them to Lebanese authorities in June last year. Interpol also issued a "red notice" in July.
However, the four suspects remain at large.
Baragwanath said on Monday that the indictment “can be refuted by the defense lawyers.”
He stressed during a seminar at the Sagesse University that the legal terms should be developed in order to implement justice in societies.
Baragwanath noted that the trials in absentia are inspired by the Lebanese penal code and the French laws, although trying a person in absentia doesn’t exist in international law.
The head of the STL arrived in Lebanon on Sunday night.
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