STL: Persons Disclosing Confidential Information from Tribunal May Be Subject to Judicial Proceedings

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon condemned the recent media reports claiming to reveal the identities of individuals who may be called to testify before the STL as witnesses, it announced in a statement on Tuesday.

“The Tribunal denounces in the strongest possible terms any attempts at witness intimidation,” it added.

“Persons who disclose confidential information from the STL may be in direct contravention of judicial orders and be subject to judicial proceedings for contempt,” it stressed.

“Publicly identifying individuals as potential STL witnesses may endanger these individuals whether or not they are linked to the Tribunal,” it continued.

Given these security concerns, the STL will not confirm whether the content of the news reports is accurate or not.

Any efforts by individuals or the media to disclose confidential material or to undermine the administration of justice are taken very seriously by the STL’s four organs.

Last week, al-Akhbar newspaper published a list of identities of a people it alleged to be witnesses at the STL the trials of which are expected to start on March 25.

March 14 coalition members strongly condemned the report, saying that the development may jeopardize international justice and the lives of the witnesses in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

On Sunday, STL spokesman Marten Youssef stressed that the judges at the STL had stipulated that the identities of witnesses remain confidential.