Defense lawyers before the U.N.-backed court probing former
Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri's murder sought Wednesday to have the tribunal's
creation declared illegal and unfit to judge their clients.
Lawyers for Salim Ayyash -- one of four men wanted for trial in
connection with Hariri's car bomb death in 2005 -- asked "the trial
chamber to find that the establishment of the court was not legal."
"As a result, the trial chamber does not have the
jurisdiction to hear the indictment brought against Mr. Ayyash and his
co-accused," they said in papers filed before the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon (STL).
The Hague-based court in early February said it would put Salim
Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra on trial for
Hariri's death and arrest warrants have been issued for the four -- but they
remain at large.
Lawyers for Badreddine, Oneissi and Sabra have filed similar
documents, a source close to the case, who asked not to be named, told Agence
France Presse.
Lawyers for Badreddine, described as the "brains behind the
operation" that killed the billionaire politician and 22 others including
a suicide bomber on February 14, 2005 said they doubted the court's ability to
try their client.
"Having been established in an illegitimate and
unconstitutional (manner)... the STL cannot give the accused a fair
trial," they said in a statement.
Last month, STL judges turned down prosecutors who asked to add a
charge of "criminal association" to the initial indictment against
the four members of Hizbullah who are being tried in their absence on listed
charges of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and homicide.
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed the STL as a
U.S.-Israeli conspiracy and vowed that no member of his group would ever be
found or arrested. Hizbullah denies involvement in the Hariri attack.
The STL is the only international court that has a mandate to try
suspects in absentia.
Created by a 2007 U.N. Security Council resolution at Lebanon's
request, the STL opened its doors in 2009 and is tasked with trying those
suspected of responsibility for Hariri's assassination.
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