PreTrial Judge postpones trial date

Thu 21 Feb 2013

NNA - Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has postponed the start of trial in the case of Ayyash et al., in a decision issued today, a statement by the Media Advisory of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicated on Thursday.
A new tentative date will soon be set by Judge Fransen, to replace 25 March 2013 as a provisional date for the start of trial. Judge Fransen has asked for submissions from the Prosecution, Defence Counsel and Victims' Representatives by 8 March on their preparedness for trial, after which he will set the new date.
The decision is in response to the Defence Counsel for the four accused in the 14 February 2005 attack asking the Pre-Trial Judge to postpone the trial date.
The Pre-Trial Judge found that certain disclosure obligations had not been met, which the Prosecution recognized. He found that the Prosecution has not yet disclosed the entirety of the material to the Defence, and that the Defence has not yet been able to access certain material disclosed by the Prosecution due to technical issues. In reaching his decision, the Pre-Trial Judge also took note of the ongoing cooperation requests by the Defence made to the Lebanese authorities. Judge Fransen wrote in his decision that all of these issues could not have been foreseen when he set the tentative trial date in July 2012 and also noted the volume of evidence.
Judge Fransen found all these facts to justify the Defence's request to postpone the trial date, which would otherwise not allow Defence 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. He further stressed that all participants must adhere to and respect set deadlines.

STL Media Advisory: Herman von Hebel to visit Lebanon this week

NNA - The STL Registrar, Herman von Hebel, will visit Lebanon this week on an official visit.
During his stay, the Registrar will meet with the Prime Minister and other Lebanese officials.
The Registrar will also meet with various representatives of the diplomatic community in Lebanon and will meet with the STL staff in Beirut.
The Registrar is responsible for all aspects of the Tribunal's administration including the budget, fundraising, relations with states and court management. His responsibilities also include oversight of the victim participation unit, witness protection and detention facilities.

STL defense pushes for trial delay, seeks more cooperation

January 28, 2013
Willow Osgood

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The defense attorneys at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are requesting to delay the trial of the men indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, describing the current start date as "both unrealistic and unreasonable."
In a motion filed to the court two months before the trial is set to begin on March 25, the attorneys said their request for more time is a result of the prosecution's failure to disclose all relevant documents, as well as the volume and disorganization of the evidence that the defense has received.
"The prosecutor has served [the defense with] some 86,236 documents, 92 percent of which have been served since 13 November 2012," the attorneys said in their motion. "The total volume of documentation served, according to the prosecutor, amounts to approximately 469,000 pages."
The attorneys, who were appointed last February to represent Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra, also cited "continuing non-cooperation of the relevant Lebanese authorities ... and the absence of the accused."
They argued that requests for information have been met with "no cooperation or assistance from Lebanon," making it impossible for them to conduct their own investigations.
As the four members of Hezbollah indicted by the court remain at large – attorneys are not allowed any contact with them – the proceeding are expected to be held in absentia.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has long denied the party's involvement in the attack that killed Hariri and 21 others, vilifying the STL as an Israeli-American project designed to discredit Hezbollah and sow strife in Lebanese society.
The defense attorneys said that they were unable to propose an alternative date to begin the proceedings without knowing when the prosecution would hand over the remaining evidence, or when authorities would address the defense's requests for cooperation:
"The right of each accused to have adequate time to prepare a defense is being breached and each accused will require considerably more time to prepare his defense once issues of disclosure, cooperation and technical problems are fully resolved."
Last summer, the prosecution said it would be ready for trial at the end of 2012, while the defense attorneys said they would not be prepared until the end of 2013.
Pretrial Judge Daniel Fransen, who last summer set the tentative trial start date of March 25, will hold a public hearing Wednesday to assess the readiness of both sides.
Many analysts had anticipated that trial would be moved back, predicting the defense or the prosecution, whose case is set to include some 557 witnesses and over 13,000 exhibits, would seek additional time.
The move to push back the start date comes after the defense teams made repeated appeals to the prosecution to disclose all necessary information.
Many of the arguments made in the motion were previewed in the defense pretrial briefs filed earlier in the month, when some of the attorneys had argued that the prosecution's pace in turning over documents had left the defense without sufficient time to prepare for the trial.

Pre-Trial Judge to hold Status Conference

Leidschendam, 25 January 2013 – The Pre-Trial Judge will hold a hearing on Wednesday 30 January as part of his duties to ensure preparation for trial.
The Status Conference, which will begin at 2:30 PM (Central European time), will be public; however, the Judge might decide to go into closed session during the course of the hearing if confidential matters need to be discussed.
Members of the media can contact the press office for accreditation at stl-pressoffice@un.org.

STL condemns media reports on alleged witness identities

Leidschendam, 22 January 2013 – The STL condemns the recent media reports claiming to reveal the identities of individuals who may be called to testify before the STL as witnesses.
The Tribunal denounces in the strongest possible terms any attempts at witness intimidation. Publicly identifying individuals as potential STL witnesses may endanger these individuals whether or not they are linked to the Tribunal. 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. Persons who disclose confidential information from the STL may be in direct contravention of judicial orders and be subject to judicial proceedings for contempt.

New Deputy Registrar appointed

Leidschendam, 14 January 2013 – Daryl Mundis was appointed this week as Deputy Registrar for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He replaces Kaoru Okuizumi, who left the Tribunal in October.
Mr Mundis, from the United States, has extensive background in international criminal justice. He served as Chief of Prosecutions at the STL from 2009 until his appointment as Deputy Registrar.
Prior to joining the STL, he was a Senior Prosecuting Trial Attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, where he was the lead prosecutor in a number of cases involving crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. He also served in the Chambers of the ICTY.

Swearing-in ceremony of Judge Ivana Hrdličková

Leidschendam, 14 January 2013 - Judge Ivana Hrdličková, appointed by the United Nations Secretary General to serve on the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, will pronounce her solemn declaration before taking up her duties at a public hearing on Wednesday, 16 January at 4 pm.
Judge Hrdličková holds a PhD from the law faculty of Charles University in Prague and specializes in Islamic Shari'a, with a focus on human rights and Islamic finance in international and Islamic law. Since 2008, she also acts as a legal expert of the Council of Europe in matters related to human rights, money laundering and the financing of terrorism. A short biography of Judge Hrdličková is available on the Special Tribunal's website.
You are cordially invited to attend the swearing-in at a public hearing to be held in the Antonio Cassese Courtroom of the Special Tribunal.
Please, contact the STL Press Office for accreditation.
The hearings will be held in open session and can be followed on the STL website.