Mirza Hands STL Delegation Report on Search for Four Hariri Murder Suspects

General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza handed on Wednesday a monthly report on the search for the four suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri to a delegation from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, reported the National News Agency.

Four Hizbullah members, Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra have been accused of being involved in the assassination.

The STL released the indictment in the crime in July along with arrest warrants against the suspects.

The Lebanese security authorities were charged with searching and capturing them within 30-day period.

The suspects remain at large.

Earlier this week, STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen asked the Trial Chamber to determine whether proceedings in absentia should be initiated in the case of Ayyash et al.

“The Tribunal’s rules state that if the accused have not been arrested within 30 calendar days of the public advertisement of an indictment, then the pre-trial judge can request that the Trial Chamber initiate proceedings in absentia,” said the STL in a statement.

“According to the pre-trial judge’s ruling, this period of public advertisement started at the latest on September 15, 2011, when a wanted poster displaying the pictures of the accused, their personal details and the counts against them were published in major Lebanese newspapers,” it added.

“The Trial Chamber will now have to determine whether the required conditions have been met in order to start the proceedings in absentia whilst preserving the rights of the accused,” concluded the statement.

An STL noted that the “trial in absentia doesn’t eliminate the Lebanese authorities’ responsibility to continue its pursuit of the suspects.”