BEIRUT: The prosecution in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon called Friday for senior Lebanese officials to be questioned over why four Hezbollah members accused of the 2005 assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri remain at large, as the court’s defense counsel called for warrants against the men to be dropped.
Senior Trial Counsel Iain Morley, representing Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, called for judicial officials to explain in The Hague the precise reasons the accused remain at large.
“There is a suggestion that there are difficulties in Lebanon … which make affecting the location and arrest of defendants problematic,” Morley said.
“It may be that if you heard evidence from Lebanese authorities certain apparently straightforward investigative steps could not take place in Lebanon,” he explained.
The prosecution issued a confidential request for assistance to Lebanon Friday, outlining alternative measures that could be used to arrest suspects.
The STL’s main point of contact in Beirut is the office of State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, who declined to comment on the prosecution’s request when contacted by The Daily Star.
Four Hezbollah members were named in Bellemare’s June indictment, which accused the men of tracking five-time Prime Minister Hariri for several months before assassinating him on Feb. 14, 2005. International arrest warrants were then issued with the assistance of INTERPOL and authorities in Beirut were ordered to locate and detain the men.
The four-month-long manhunt for suspects proved fruitless, prompting the then-STL president Antonio Cassese to request a monthly update on the search from Lebanese authorities. The late Italian judge labeled efforts to arrest the accused as “not sufficient.”Head of the Defense Office Francois Roux told STL judges that arrest warrants violated suspects’ rights under international law.
“The [STL Appeals] Chamber should initiate proceedings aimed at lifting or suspending the arrest warrants issued against the accused in that this prevents all reasonable measures to serve them the indictment. It also denies them the right to appear at proceedings freely,” Roux said. “Should the accused hear of the arrest warrants, their only option would be to hide.”
The court’s statute provides a variety of ways accused individuals can to participate in trials, including via videoconference, if deemed appropriate by judges.
Roux argued that arrest warrants rendered defendant rights theoretical.
“The issuance of arrest warrants has left the accused unable or unwilling to appear here. How can we even consider that the accused, who are subject to arrest warrants, could even consider going to consult lawyers in Beirut or elsewhere?” he said. “How could we even consider that they may want to go to the STL liaison office and attend a videoconference hearing?”
Friday’s Trial Chamber hearing focused on the viability of in absentia trials given that security forces in Beirut, in the words of Bellemare, have been “either unwilling or unable” to apprehend suspects.
The STL has divided Lebanon since its inception in 2009, with detractors accusing the court of being politicized. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed that party members will not be handed over to authorities “even in 300 years.”
Amid the media maelstrom surrounding the investigation, Morley said that the political and security situation in Lebanon should only be factored into court decisions if it could be presented in the form of evidence.
Senior Trial Counsel Iain Morley, representing Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, called for judicial officials to explain in The Hague the precise reasons the accused remain at large.
“There is a suggestion that there are difficulties in Lebanon … which make affecting the location and arrest of defendants problematic,” Morley said.
“It may be that if you heard evidence from Lebanese authorities certain apparently straightforward investigative steps could not take place in Lebanon,” he explained.
The prosecution issued a confidential request for assistance to Lebanon Friday, outlining alternative measures that could be used to arrest suspects.
The STL’s main point of contact in Beirut is the office of State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, who declined to comment on the prosecution’s request when contacted by The Daily Star.
Four Hezbollah members were named in Bellemare’s June indictment, which accused the men of tracking five-time Prime Minister Hariri for several months before assassinating him on Feb. 14, 2005. International arrest warrants were then issued with the assistance of INTERPOL and authorities in Beirut were ordered to locate and detain the men.
The four-month-long manhunt for suspects proved fruitless, prompting the then-STL president Antonio Cassese to request a monthly update on the search from Lebanese authorities. The late Italian judge labeled efforts to arrest the accused as “not sufficient.”Head of the Defense Office Francois Roux told STL judges that arrest warrants violated suspects’ rights under international law.
“The [STL Appeals] Chamber should initiate proceedings aimed at lifting or suspending the arrest warrants issued against the accused in that this prevents all reasonable measures to serve them the indictment. It also denies them the right to appear at proceedings freely,” Roux said. “Should the accused hear of the arrest warrants, their only option would be to hide.”
The court’s statute provides a variety of ways accused individuals can to participate in trials, including via videoconference, if deemed appropriate by judges.
Roux argued that arrest warrants rendered defendant rights theoretical.
“The issuance of arrest warrants has left the accused unable or unwilling to appear here. How can we even consider that the accused, who are subject to arrest warrants, could even consider going to consult lawyers in Beirut or elsewhere?” he said. “How could we even consider that they may want to go to the STL liaison office and attend a videoconference hearing?”
Friday’s Trial Chamber hearing focused on the viability of in absentia trials given that security forces in Beirut, in the words of Bellemare, have been “either unwilling or unable” to apprehend suspects.
The STL has divided Lebanon since its inception in 2009, with detractors accusing the court of being politicized. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed that party members will not be handed over to authorities “even in 300 years.”
Amid the media maelstrom surrounding the investigation, Morley said that the political and security situation in Lebanon should only be factored into court decisions if it could be presented in the form of evidence.
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