BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon denied Thursday suggestions made by a Hezbollah MP that the court had maintained an office in south Beirut.
During a session in Parliament to discuss the government’s policy statement, Tyre MP Nawwaf Musawi said the staff from the STL and the initial U.N.-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri had maintained an office in the southern suburbs of Beirut at the same time as running operations from their base in the mountains above the capital.
“The STL does not have an office in south Beirut,” a court spokesperson told The Daily Star.
It also emerged Thursday that STL pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen ruled that a former general, imprisoned in connection to Hariri’s killing for four years, was eligible to view additional court documents relating to the circumstances of his detention.
Pro-Syrian general Jamil Sayyed was one of four men only released when the STL started operations in early 2009. He alleged that his detention was politically motivated and legally baseless. A complex legal procedure began several months ago in which Sayyed’s lawyers requested STL documents relating to the client. Although additional documents were deemed acceptable for release by Fransen, one document, “No. 51,” was blocked by STL prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, a decision Sayyed has appealed.
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