The daily Star - New STL indictment next week: March 14 sources, February 20, 2012

By Van Meguerditchian

BEIRUT: Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will submit a new draft indictment in three cases to the pretrial judge before leaving office next week, several March 14 coalition sources told The Daily Star Sunday.

According to a source with knowledge of Bellemare’s meetings last month in Beirut, the prosecutor informed Lebanese officials that he would draft the new indictment for the attempted assassinations of former Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr and MP Marwan Hamadeh, as well as the assassination of former Lebanese Communist Party leader George Hawi.

While the source could not verify whether the new draft would include names other than the four Hezbollah members who were charged last June, the source said Bellemare would submit all documents at hand, including a new indictment.

Last week, Prime Minister Najib Mikati told Agence France Presse that Bellemare had informed him that he would submit a new indictment before leaving office on Feb 29. Mikati also said that the STL prosecutor had briefed him on the cases of Murr, Hamadeh and Hawi.

The STL has refused to comment on the authenticity of the report.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Hamadeh said the new indictment would be submitted very soon. “Indictments are on the verge of being submitted and justice is moving foward to uncover those who assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the remaining martyrs of the Cedar Revolution,” Hamadeh said.

According to Hamadeh, the new indictment will accelerate the trial proceedings, which are expected to start in the coming months. “Trial sessions will most probably start by summer.”


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-20/163926-new-stl-indictment-next-week-march-14-sources.ashx#axzz1muR28tUA