Hariri court holds hearing to discuss law issues
Daily Legal News
Lawyers and judges at a U.N.-backed tribunal tried Monday to thrash out the question of what constitutes an act of terrorism, and other legal issues, as they prepare to prosecute suspects for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
A hearing at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon aimed to clarify laws the court will apply when trying those allegedly responsible for the truck bomb that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.
Tribunal President Antonio Cassese of Italy said the hearing showed that Lebanon "is set on a course for judicial accountability through the rule of law."
Prosecutors last month filed a sealed indictment to a judge who will take up to 10 weeks studying the charges and evidence before deciding whether the case can proceed.
By clarifying legal issues now, the court hopes to speed up the path to its first trial, expected to begin later this year with or without a suspect in custody.
It is widely expected that members of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah will be named in the tribunal's indictment. Hezbollah denies any involvement in Hariri's slaying and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has said his group would "cut off the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest any of its members.
Unlike other international courts, the Hariri tribunal can hold trials in absentia if suspects cannot be arrested.
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