Now Lebanon - Sayyed was unjustly treated, says Aoun - September 21, 2010

Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun told the press following his Tuesday bloc meeting that former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed was “unjustly treated” adding that “the latter’s cause is the biggest case of this century.”

“[Sayyed] was imprisoned for four years due to false testimony. All we want is to achieve justice,” Aoun said.

Sayyed was detained from 2005 to 2009 on suspicion of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In April 2009, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) ordered his release due to lack of evidence.

Attorney General Judge Said Mirza requested to summon Sayyed last week, after the latter said that that “[Prime Minister Saad Hariri] should take a lie detector test to prove he did not support or fund false witnesses in the STL.” Sayyed vowed to take his right “with his own hands.”

“How could Justice Minister [Ibrahim Najjar] allow himself to ask for Sayyed’s summoning?” Aoun asked, adding “I would withdraw the vote of confidence from Najjar.”

He also said that he did not see any armed party at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday, when the former General Security chief arrived from France and was received by a Hezbollah delegation.

Aoun also said that the witnesses who gave false testimony to the international commission investigating the Rafik Hariri murder case must be summoned for questioning before the STL’s pending indictment is issued, “regardless of [anyone’s] opinion.”

“The [Rafik Hariri murder] case must not be pursued after having false witnesses,” Aoun said.

“We will continue to use a tense [political dialogue]. When the [tension] escalation is over, we will [decide] what to do,” Aoun added.

He also said that the UN Security Council and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora were accomplices in a plot to establish the STL.