STL Prosecutor Office: Circumstantial Evidence is 'Enough' to Start 'Transparent' Trial
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor has stressed that the circumstantial evidence against four Hizbullah members in the assassination case of ex-PM Rafik Hariri was sufficient to start the trial.
An Nahar daily published on Thursday quoted officials from the office as saying that the evidence was “enough” to open the trial on January 16 in the suicide bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others on the Beirut seafront on Feb. 2005.
Four Hizbullah members - Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra - will be tried in absentia.
A fifth wanted suspect, Hassan Habib Merhi, was indicted in October after a pre-trial judge confirmed that he was accused of being involved in the attack.
The officials told An Nahar that Prosecutor Norman Farrell will present the evidence to the court “during transparent judicial proceedings that will be open to the public.”
The STL issued warrants against the four suspects in June 2011, and Interpol has issued a "red notice" for them but none has been arrested so far.
The 2011 indictment against them said the case is built in large part on circumstantial evidence.
It identified five networks of telephones used in the buildup to Hariri's assassination, and set out a detailed account of the days and hours leading to the detonation of 2.5 tons of explosives by a suicide bomber in a Mitsubishi van.
The officials reiterated to An Nahar that Bo Astrom has never worked for the office of the prosecutor at the STL.
They said his personal views do not reflect or represent the position of the prosecutor.
Astrom is a veteran Swedish police investigator who worked under former chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis in Hariri's murder case.
He has told al-Jadeed television that Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan was absent from Hariri's convoy on the day of the assassination.
Hasan, chief of the Intelligence Bureau of the Internal Security Forces, who was assassinated in Oct. 2012, had never failed to escort Hariri, the report said.
Astrom considered the behavior as “suspicious.”
19 December 2013, 08:31
77
hip hip hip, hourra! let the STL begin.
I'm confident that they'll manage to prove that Brigadier General Wissam al Hassan had missed escorting PM Hariri numerous times before. his name needs to be cleared because he was loyal to his PM and to his country.
19 December 2013, 09:04
128
The STL has enough evidence to convict the lead murderer of all....the Sayyed.
19 December 2013, 16:58
00
please after receiving the funds from the lebanese budget and no court would start anything with some circumstantial evidences! you must be joking!!!!STL is a farce!!
19 December 2013, 17:38
52
Finally, Hezbollah (not the 5 suspects) will be put on trial to determine whether or not they killed Hariri and others.
One thing is sure, Hassan Nasrallah has nominated himself as "RESPONSIBLE" for any action of any Hezbollah member. This means that if any of the 5 individuals are found guilty, then Hassan Nasrallah is a murderer. (He's already a murderer as leader of this terrorist organisation).
Aounie and Hezbollah ghanam will try to discredit the STL all they want but if the evidence is undeniable, they might as well be hiding their heads in the ground.
The only way for them to defend themselves will be to appear in court... If they fail to do so, it's because they have pronounced themselves guilty before the verdict and will not even try to defend themselves!
They will claim the court is fake and manipulated but this would be really funny coming from Pro-Syrian and Pro-Iranian supporters. These countries are the best example of transparent justice :)
