UN-backed Tribunal publishes indictment in 2005 Hariri murder

AL ARABIYA, DUBAI

The UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri said
Tuesday it had published the full indictment. “The pre-trial judge has ordered that his decision confirming the indictment related to the February 14, 2005 attack, as well as the indictment itself, be made public,” the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said, in order to “proceed to trial.” The publication Wednesday comes after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said last week that Lebanese authorities had been unable to arrest the four suspects or serve them with their indictments, according to The Associated Press.

They are accused of detonating the truck bomb on February 14, 2005, that killed Hariri and 22 others–a number that includes a suicide bomber.

STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, in a separate statement, welcomed making the indictment public.

“This Order will finally inform the public and the victims about the facts alleged in the indictment regarding the commission of the crime that led to charging the four accused,” Mr. Bellemare said. “This unsealing of the indictment answers many questions about the 14 February 2005 attack. The full story will however only unfold in the courtroom, where an open, public, fair and transparent trial will render a final verdict.”

Lebanon’s Shiite armed group Hezbollah has denied involvement in the assassination and said it will never turn over the suspects.

Judge Daniel Fransen last month ordered confidentiality around the names and charges against Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Anaissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, be partially dropped.

Ayyash and Badreddine face charges of “committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device” and homicide, while Anaissi and Sabra faced charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.