STL has 'Faith' in Fransen's Judgment, Stresses Lebanon's Ongoing Obligation to Arrest Suspects

The Deputy Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Friday the court had “faith” in the judgment of Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen, a day after he postponed the provisional March 25 start date for trials.

“We have faith in Judge Fransen's judgment, and he knows best if the case is ready for trial,” said Daryl Mundis, the Deputy Registrar, in a Q&A session on twitter.

“Fransen saw it was absolutely necessary, to protect the rights of the accused, to postpone start of trial,” he said.

Four Hizbullah members have been indicted in the Feb. 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. They will be tried in absentia.

The suspects were indicted after prosecutors analyzed a vast network of telephone records to link an "assassination team" to the suicide truck bombing on the Beirut seafront boulevard.

“The Lebanese authorities have an ongoing obligation to arrest and transfer the accused even during trial,” tweeted Mundis.

If the suspects are arrested and convicted, then “imprisonment shall be served in a state designated by the President of the STL.”

But the states would first indicate their willingness to accept convicted persons, he said.

“It's very difficult to predict how long trial will take. But there are lots of steps we are taking now to ensure speedy trial,” he said when asked by a follower how long it will take before the STL starts exposing all leads.

Fransen said in a written ruling on Thursday trials will be postponed because prosecutors have not yet disclosed all evidence to defense attorneys for the suspects, and the attorneys can't access other material because of technical issues. Also, defense lawyers have a number of outstanding requests for assistance in their investigations with Lebanese authorities.

Fransen ruled that the problems and delays would "not allow Defense Counsel adequate time to prepare for trial and would be in violation of the most basic right of the accused and the principle of fair trial," the tribunal said in a statement.

No new date was immediately set for the trial.

“Defense has to comb through over 86,000 documents, terabytes of call data records, and conduct their own investigations,” Mundis tweeted.

“Fransen will set a new tentative date following submissions from the parties. These submissions are due on 8 March,” he said.

Asked about reports on amendments introduced to the indictment, he tweeted that it was up to STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell to decide “when and if to submit additional indictments.”

The probe into Hariri's assassination and connected cases is ongoing, he said.

He denied that the tribunal had come under political pressure.

“We are an independent judicial institution,” said Mundis, adding “those who support the work of the STL financially or otherwise know they have no opportunity to influence the judicial process.”