Defense Counsel at STL Deems U.S. Sanctions against Badreddine as 'Interference' in Judicial Process

Last Thursday, on 13 September 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Mustafa Badreddine, designating him pursuant to Executive Order 13224 “for providing support to Hizbullah’s terrorist activities in the Middle East and around the world,” said the Defense counsel at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in a statement on Thursday.

The Defense for Mustafa Amine Badreddine considers that these sanctions amount to political interference with the ongoing judicial process before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

By referring to the indictment issued in June 2011 by then STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to support the designation of Badreddine, the United States government has shown scant regard for the presumption of innocence and for international criminal due process, the Defense continued.

In particular, the Defense questions the rationale behind the timing of the sanctions, which do not appear, in so far as they concern Badreddine, to be related to any alleged support on his part to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, it said.

“Rather, having been adopted a few weeks after a date was set for trial in March 2013, the imposition of sanctions appears to be an attempt to influence the tribunal, prejudicing the minds of the judiciary against Badreddine in advance of his impending trial and thus interfering with the proper administration of justice,” it added.

“It is notable that in the U.S. Treasury release there is no reference to the fact that Badreddine is presumed innocent of the charges brought by the STL prosecutor,” it stressed.

It is highly questionable whether Badreddine can now ever receive a fair trial before the tribunal, when the United States – a major sponsor of the tribunal – has publicly and expressly branded him a “senior terrorist leader,” it declared.

Furthermore, the sanctions have paralyzed the work of the Defense team at a critical time in the judicial proceedings, co-counsel John RWD Jones, a dual UK/U.S. citizen, now having to suspend his legal representation of Badreddine pending clarification as to whether he can continue to represent Badreddine without breaching the sanctions regime.

“States, including members of the U.N. Security Council, donor countries and states of citizenship of tribunal judges, should refrain from, and be vigilant against, attempts to influence international judicial proceedings,” said the Defense counsel statement.

The Defense had already alleged, in its submissions on the illegality of the tribunal, that the tribunal is an unlawful and political creation. The sanctions recently imposed by the United States on Badreddine only further weaken the tribunal’s legitimacy, casting doubt on its ability to provide the accused with a fair trial.

The Badreddine Defense team is represented by Mr. Antoine Korkmaz (lead counsel), Mr. John RWD Jones (co-counsel), Ms. Pauline Baranes (legal officer) and Ms. Sarah Codde (case manager).