Lawyers for the Hezbollah
members accused of the 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-Premier Rafiq Hariri
argued Monday that a UN-backed court set up to try them had no jurisdiction in
the case.
"This is not an
international crime," lawyer Antoine Korkmaz told the court, insisting
that Lebanese justice should try the four Hezbollah members suspected of the
killing rather than the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Defense lawyers in June launched
a bid to have the UN-backed court declared illegal, saying the UN Security
Council had abused its powers when it set up the tribunal five years ago.
Korkmaz said that in
passing the May 2007 resolution, the United Nations Security Council had
"hijacked the powers given to it by the [UN] Charter."
Defense lawyers are
appealing after judges on July 30 issued a first ruling that the court had the
jurisdiction for the trial.
Hariri, a billionaire Sunni
Muslim politician, was killed on February 14, 2005 in a massive car bombing on
the Beirut seafront along with another 22 people, including the suicide bomber.
"Terrorism is not an
international crime for which you can set up an international criminal
tribunal," Korkmaz said, noting that no special tribunal was set up to try
those behind the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
The STL announced in July
that the trial would provisionally start on March 25 next year, even though the
defendants are still at large.
Hezbollah denies
involvement in the spectacular bombing that killed Hariri and was initially
blamed on Syria.
Regional turbulence including the uprising against President Bashar
al-Assad's regime in Syria and the threat of that violence spilling over into
Lebanon have led many to question the court's relevancy today.http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=441857#
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