BEIRUT: President of the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath said that looking into the issue of “false
witnesses” and assassinations that occurred after 2005 would require approval
by Lebanon’s government and the U.N. Security Council.
In a video posted on the STL’s website,
Baragwanath said the U.N.-backed court had no jurisdiction over the issue of
so-called "false witnesses," but went on to clarify that “if the
government of Lebanon and the United Nations and indeed the Security Council
were to agree that we should receive jurisdiction to deal with this topic then
of course we would.”
Four of the country's security officials were
arrested in late 2005 for suspicion of involvement in Hariri's assassination,
but were released in 2009 by former STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, one month
after the establishment of the court. The matter gave rise to speculation
regarding individuals who may have falsely implicated the security officials in
the crimes.
“In 2009, when we were established, the first
thing that happened was that the prosecutor came to us and said the generals
who have been detained are people against whom we do not have sufficient
evidence to sustain the charges and the pretrial judge was asked to and did
make an order to release the generals and that was the end of the matter as far
as the tribunal is concerned,” Baragwanath said.
The president also said that for the tribunal
to extend its jurisdiction to investigate cases which occurred after 2005 would
require the agreement of the U.N. and Lebanon’s government.
He noted that the court’s jurisdiction is restricted
to the period between Oct.1, 2004 and Dec. 12, 2005 and that if crimes during
that period are connected to the attack against Hariri, the tribunal would
consider them.
The court has established that there are links
between Hariri's assassination and the attempted assassination of MP Marwan
Hamdeh in October 2005 and former Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr, who was
targeted on July 12, 2005.
The court has also
established links between Hariri's killing and the assassination of former
Communist Party leader George Hawi on June 21, 2005.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Mar-01/165188-stl-court-would-need-expanded-mandate-to-tackle-false-witnesses-issue.ashx#axzz1nr6lJzTR
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