The Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) is a local non-profit, non-partisan Lebanese human rights organization in Beirut that was established by the Franco-Lebanese Movement SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) in 2006. SOLIDA has been active since 1996 in the struggle against arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and the impunity of those perpetrating gross human violations.

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March 14, 2012

The Daily Star - Bellemare implies Hezbollah implicated in Hariri killing, March 14, 2012


BEIRUT: Former Prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Daniel Bellemare has made statements that appear to indicate his belief that Hezbollah is implicated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Speaking about evidence concerning interconnected cellphone networks that resulted in the indictment last year of four members of the resistance party, Bellemare is quoted in a Canadian newspaper as saying: “Hezbollah didn’t know at the time that the cellphones were leaving traces. After that, the line went dead.”
The statement marks the first time Bellemare referred to Hezbollah directly. Previously, Bellemare had left open the possibility that the four indicted individuals, although benefiting from expertise gained through their membership in Hezbollah, could have carried out the attack without the knowledge of the party.
In Bellemare’s indictment, which the STL published in full two months after it was issued in March 2011, he concludes that given two of the four suspects’ standing in Hezbollah, they “had the capability” to kill Hariri.
The four men indicted for the attack, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hasan Sabra, are accused of terrorism and intentional homicide.
Hezbollah has denied the allegations, with the party’s chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah describing the suspects as honorable men who have fought against Israel.
The resistance party has maintained that the U.N.-backed court is an “Israeli-U.S.” tool targeting the party and aiming to sow sectarian strife in the country. Nasrallah has also questioned the credibility of Bellemare and accused his team of having ties to the CIA.
In his interview with the Ottawa Citizen, the first since he retired in late February, Bellemare described Nasrallah’s accusations as “insulting,” saying: “We were always driven by one thing: to find the truth.”
The STL is a divisive issue in Lebanon, with the March 14 coalition insisting that the court is the only means to achieve justice, while the March 8 alliance supports Hezbollah’s stance.
Bellemare announced last December that he would not seek to be reappointed as prosecutor for the court’s second mandate.
In the interview, Bellemare also revealed that donor countries were eager to issue indictments.
“A lot of people wanted a quick indictment,” Bellemare said. “I resisted that all along. This is not the way we have been trained. This is not the way it should be done.”
He also talked about calls “to pull the plug” on the court.
According to Bellemare: “The pressure we had was unbelievable. Donor countries wanted to see results. But when you can’t discuss the investigation, you have to tell them, trust me, it’s moving along.”
When the arrest warrants were issued for the four suspects, Hezbollah said that it would never turn over the men.
After failing to arrest the suspects, the court decided last month to try the four men in absentia.
Bellemare, however, seemed optimistic that those who had assassinated Hariri would be tried and brought to justice: “I never despair,” he said.
He also said the court was a first step for Lebanon to show that perpetrators are held to account.
“Now, what people want is to send a clear message: Nobody’s above the law,” Bellemare said. “If you commit a crime, you will pay. This, to me, is a huge, huge step forward.”
Separately, the STL announced in a statement that Bellemare’s successor, Norman Farrell, as well as the Daniel Nsereko, the new Appeals Chamber judge, were sworn in.
“It is my devout hope and expectation that, with both prosecution and defense teams in place and the Chambers now back to full strength, we can together deliver justice in accordance with the law,” said Judge David Baragwanath, the head of the STL, during the swearing-in ceremony.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Mar-14/166594-bellemare-implies-hezbollah-implicated-in-hariri-killing.ashx#axzz1p511kN7d

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