Prime Minister Najib Mikati will support the cabinet if it decides to transfer the file of witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies to the international commission probing former PM Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination to the Justice Council, Al-Jumhuriya newspaper reported on Thursday.
“Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi has designed a formula, based on which the ‘false witnesses’ file will be transferred to the Justice Council but in a way that would contradict Lebanon’s commitment to [the UN-backed] Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL),” reported the daily.
“The move will trigger a great dispute in the country,” the paper added.
Before the collapse of Saad Hariri’s cabinet in January, the Hezbollah-backed March 8 politicians have called for the government to task the Justice Council with investigating the issue of witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies. However, March 14 figures have said that the regular judiciary should handle the matter.
The March 8 ministers resigned over the dispute, resulting in the collapse of Hariri’s cabinet.
The Hezbollah-led coalition, which accuses the STL of being politicized, then secured a majority and nominated Najib Mikati for premiership.
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