Friday 6 August 2010

STL Indictment Not Based on Conclusive Evidence: Report


06/08/2010

While all eyes were directed to the press conference Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is set to hold on Monday and in which he would announce facts to be revealed for the first time, facts the might change the course of the investigations in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's case, warnings continued in Lebanon of a Western plot to sow strife in the country over an "already written" verdict that denounces Hezbollah.

Lebanese daily As-Safir reported on Friday that Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said before diplomats at the United Nations that charges facing suspects in Hariri's assassination are not based on conclusive evidence.

The daily quoted a Western diplomatic source as saying that the indictment will include in the first phase direct accusations against three Hezbollah members, but without conclusive evidence. The source quoted Bellemare, however, as saying that the indictment charges would extend to up to 20 party members later on.

As-Safir said a report recently received by a Lebanese political side cites that diplomats who met Bellemare asked questions about the evidence upon which the STL Prosecutor relied on to accuse Hezbollah members. Bellemare replied that the charges are not based on "conclusive," but rather "circumstantial" evidence.

The STL Prosecutor explained that circumstantial evidence was not based on direct witnesses but on "expert" witnesses.

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