'STL Might Embarrass Lebanon Judiciary Over 4 Officers'
26/03/2009 Less than one month following its launch, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is still in the process of completing administrative procedures and judges' appointments in order to start operating during the few coming days.
While all attention remains focused on the fate of the four Lebanese officers detained over the case without charges since 2005, the tribunal's general prosecutor Daniel Bellemare has reportedly asked Lebanon on Wednesday to hand over the case to the international tribunal. The request, however, did not include a request to transfer the four detained generals to the Hague.
One day earlier, the tribunal's president Antonio Cassasse declared that "the fate of the four detained generals will be decided in May, either they will be released or charged."
But Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar quoted on Thursday a high-ranking official from within the STL as saying that the tribunal might not ask Lebanese judicial authorities to hand over the four officers, and therefore they might not be transferred to the Hague. "If this happens, the Lebanese judiciary would find itself in an embarrassing position," the official reportedly added.
The four officers are: Jamil Sayyed of the Surete Generale, Mustafa Hamdan of the Presidential Guard Brigade, Raymond Azar of the army's Intelligence Service and Ali Hajj of the Internal Security Forces. They have been arbitrarily detained without charges since 2005, upon the recommendation of former UN investigator Detlev Mehlis, based on the fabricated testimonies of false witnesses.
Meanwhile, Bellemare filed an application urging the pre-trial judge to ask Lebanese authorities to "defer to the tribunal's competence." He called on Lebanese officials to "hand over to the prosecutor the results of the investigations and a copy of the relevant court records and other probative material; and submit to the pre-trial judge a list of all persons detained in connection with the investigation."
The STL announced on Tuesday the appointment of Italian Judge Antonio Cassesse as tribunal president and the adoption of a set of procedural rules. Both Cassesse and Belgian pre-trial magistrate Daniel Françoin will assume their duties full time in the near future, the STL said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed French François Roux as head of STL's defense office. Roux was later sworn in. "The STL's judges, public prosecutor and the registrar were recently sworn in," the tribunal's statement said.
According to Saudi daily Al-Watan, the four Lebanese judges within the STL were also sworn in. According to the daily, the four judges are respectively Ralph Riachi, Afif Shamseddin, Walid Akoum and Micheline Breidy.
26/03/2009 Less than one month following its launch, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is still in the process of completing administrative procedures and judges' appointments in order to start operating during the few coming days.
While all attention remains focused on the fate of the four Lebanese officers detained over the case without charges since 2005, the tribunal's general prosecutor Daniel Bellemare has reportedly asked Lebanon on Wednesday to hand over the case to the international tribunal. The request, however, did not include a request to transfer the four detained generals to the Hague.
One day earlier, the tribunal's president Antonio Cassasse declared that "the fate of the four detained generals will be decided in May, either they will be released or charged."
But Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar quoted on Thursday a high-ranking official from within the STL as saying that the tribunal might not ask Lebanese judicial authorities to hand over the four officers, and therefore they might not be transferred to the Hague. "If this happens, the Lebanese judiciary would find itself in an embarrassing position," the official reportedly added.
The four officers are: Jamil Sayyed of the Surete Generale, Mustafa Hamdan of the Presidential Guard Brigade, Raymond Azar of the army's Intelligence Service and Ali Hajj of the Internal Security Forces. They have been arbitrarily detained without charges since 2005, upon the recommendation of former UN investigator Detlev Mehlis, based on the fabricated testimonies of false witnesses.
Meanwhile, Bellemare filed an application urging the pre-trial judge to ask Lebanese authorities to "defer to the tribunal's competence." He called on Lebanese officials to "hand over to the prosecutor the results of the investigations and a copy of the relevant court records and other probative material; and submit to the pre-trial judge a list of all persons detained in connection with the investigation."
The STL announced on Tuesday the appointment of Italian Judge Antonio Cassesse as tribunal president and the adoption of a set of procedural rules. Both Cassesse and Belgian pre-trial magistrate Daniel Françoin will assume their duties full time in the near future, the STL said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed French François Roux as head of STL's defense office. Roux was later sworn in. "The STL's judges, public prosecutor and the registrar were recently sworn in," the tribunal's statement said.
According to Saudi daily Al-Watan, the four Lebanese judges within the STL were also sworn in. According to the daily, the four judges are respectively Ralph Riachi, Afif Shamseddin, Walid Akoum and Micheline Breidy.
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