29 Victims to Take Part in STL Proceedings against Ayyash

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has granted the status of victim participating in the proceedings (VPP) to 29 of 33 victims who applied to participate in the proceedings in the Prosecutor v. Ayyash case (STL-18-10), the STL said on Monday.

The Ayyash case relates to the three attacks against Marwan Hamadeh, Georges Hawi and Elias Murr, which occurred in Lebanon on 1 October 2004, 21 June 2005 and 12 July 2005 respectively.

Among the thirty-three victims' applications transmitted to him by the Victims’ Participation Unit (VPU), Judge Fransen rejected as incomplete four applications. The Pre-Trial Judge indicated that this does not prevent the four applicants from subsequently providing additional information so that their applications be reassessed, the STL said in a statement.

As to the legal representation, Fransen ordered that the victims be represented within three distinct groups, each relating to one of the three attacks.

According to the Tribunal's Rules, the Registrar, after consulting the VPU, will now designate counsel to represent the VPP. The Pre-Trial Judge instructed the Registrar to designate one legal representative for each group gathering the victims of each attack.

Although Fransen's decision is public, the names and identities of the victims are confidential at this stage.

Victims of any of the three attacks in the Ayyash case, who have not yet applied to participate in the proceedings but intend to do so, should contact the VPU in that regard, the STL said in its statement.

The STL has tried Ayyash and three other Hizbullah operatives in absentia over the 2005 murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and his companions. The verdicts are expected later this year.

Hizbullah has dismissed the court as a political scheme against it and vowed that the accused will never be found.