By
Willow Osgood
BEIRUT:
Defense attorneys for the four members of Hezbollah indicted in the attack that
killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said they would not be ready to go to
trial until late next year, according to a summary of a closed-door meeting
held last month. The defense “emphasized that they would not be ready before
autumn 2013” due to difficulties related to their investigation and evidence,
and because “the nature of the proceedings in absentia trial does not allow
them to receive the instructions from the defendants,” said the summary
released by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The
prosecutor said he could be ready to start the trial at the end of 2012.
The
original discussion was held during a closed-door status conference on June 12
between pretrial judge Daniel Fransen and members of the prosecution and
defense.
According
to court rules, Fransen will ultimately set a tentative date at least four
months ahead of the start of the trial, taking into consideration the progress
of the defense and prosecution.
During
the status talks, held regularly to take stock of both sides’ progress, the
prosecution also “provided information on the subject of an eventual amendment
of the indictment.”
There
was no indication whether the amendment would name additional figures in the
attack of February 2005 or add further charges in the indictment of Mustafa
Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra.
Any
amendment to the indictment would have to be approved by Fransen and would
likely mean pushing back the start of the trial. Fransen rejected a request by
former Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to amend the indictment to include a count
of criminal association earlier this year.
Since
the February decision to move to a trial in absentia, the prosecution has
disclosed thousands of documents to the defense counsel for the accused, who
are conducting their own investigation and have hired a telecommunications
expert, according to the court’s summary.
The defense teams have also
filed a number of pretrial motions, including one rejected Wednesday by the
Appeals Chamber that had asked the court to reconsider its ruling last year
defining terrorism for the first time in international law. The Trial Chamber
has also dismissed a defense motion requesting the court to revisit the in
absentia decision, while a ruling on motions challenging the court’s legality
and jurisdiction has not yet been issued.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jul-19/181117-stl-defense-not-ready-for-trial-until-end-2013.ashx#axzz20mFkUNDx
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