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UN Hariri tribunal seeks case documents from Lebanon

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has asked Lebanese authorities to turn over documents related to the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, according to a court order released Wednesday. The STL, established under UN Security Council Resolution 1757 to investigate and try suspects in Hariri's killing, said that Lebanese authorities should "defer to the Tribunal's competence in this case" by "hand over ... the results of the investigation and a copy of the court's records" to the prosecutor. The STL also requested that "a list of all persons detained in connection with the Hariri case" be given to the pre-trial judge who would then determine whether those people should be freed, detained in Lebanon or transferred to STL at the Hague. Under the Resolution, the STL takes exclusive jurisdiction over the suspect once the request has been made, and Lebanese authorities have 14 days to comply with the request. Last month, the STL's registrar Robin Vincent said that it plans to ask the Lebanese government to transfer four generals being held on suspicion of involvement in Hariri's assassination to the court's custody. In March 2008, lead prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said he believed a criminal network was behind the assassination. The investigation into the assassination has been extended past its original anticipated end date and expanded to cover other assassinations in the country. Several reports from the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC), also headed by Bellemare, have implicated Syrian officials in Hariri's death.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 02, 2009 (boomark / email).