Counsel assigned as duty counsel by the Head of Defense Office Francois Roux met over three days at the headquarters of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon for intensive working sessions, announced the STL in a statement.
They were able to familiarize themselves with the various administrative aspects of the tribunal and to discuss, together with the Defense Office, the different legal questions certain to be asked of the tribunal in the form, in particular, of preliminary motions, it explained.
“With this in mind, the Defense Office invited Professor Salim Jreissati, who shared his expertise with the defense teams and provided them with some legal considerations relating to issues regarding the legality of the tribunal and in absentia proceedings,” it added.
“The Defense Office recalls that the defense teams will have complete freedom, with the assistance of any independent expert, if they so wish, to raise any legal matters before the tribunal that they consider necessary for the defense of the accused,” it continued.
At this stage, following the decision of the Chamber, the duty counsel will not represent individually the rights of each of the accused at the hearing on 11 November, said the statement.
However, they shall remain responsible for defending those rights, in coordination with the Defense Office.
In October, the STL announced it would hold a hearing on November 11 to discuss whether to try in absentia the four suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
The court has indicted four Hizbullah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra. However, they have not been arrested.
The STL Defense Office has appointed eight lawyers to defend the suspects.
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