Pre-Trial Judge Postpones Hariri Trial Date at Defense's Request

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen postponed on Thursday the start of trial in the case of Ayyash et al., announced the STL in a statement.

The decision is in response to the Defense Counsel for the four accused in the February 14, 2005 attack asking Fransen to postpone the trial date.

“A new tentative date will soon be set by Fransen, to replace March 25, 2013 as a provisional date for the start of trial,” said the statement.

“Fransen has asked for submissions from the Prosecution, Defense Counsel and Victims’ Representatives by March 8 on their preparedness for trial, after which he will set the new date,” it explained.

The pre-trial judge found that certain disclosure obligations had not been met, which the Prosecution recognized.

He found that the Prosecution has not yet disclosed the entirety of the material to the Defense, and that the Defense has not yet been able to access certain material disclosed by the Prosecution due to technical issues.

In reaching his decision, Fransen also took note of the ongoing cooperation requests by the Defense made to the Lebanese authorities.

He wrote in his decision that all of these issues could not have been foreseen when he set the tentative trial date in July 2012 and also noted the volume of evidence.

Fransen found all these facts to justify the Defense’s request to postpone the trial date, which would otherwise not allow Defense Counsel adequate time to prepare for trial and would be in violation of the most basic right of the accused and the principle of fair trial.

He further stressed that all participants must adhere to and respect set deadlines.

Four Hizbullah members were accused of being involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a massive car bomb in Beirut in 2005.

They remain at large as the Lebanese authorities failed to apprehend them.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has deemed the STL an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying the party, vowing that the accused will never be arrested.