STL Pre-Trial Judge Schedules New Status Conference in Ayyash Case

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) Pre-Trial Judge, Daniel Fransen, will hold a sixth Status Conference on 24 March 2021 in the Ayyash Case, which relates to the 2004-2005 bomb attacks on George Hawi, Marwan Hamadeh and Elias Murr.

Salim Ayyash, a Hizbullah suspect, has been indicted in the case.

“The hearing aims at reviewing the status of the case and ensuring the expeditious preparation for trial, through an exchange between the Prosecution, Defense and Legal Representatives of the Victims,” the STL said in a statement.

In a scheduling order issued Wednesday, the Pre-Trial Judge stated that the hearing will begin at 10:00 AM (C.E.T.) The Status Conference will be public but the Judge might decide to go into private session during the course of the hearing if confidential matters need to be discussed.

The Status Conference will take place in the STL courtroom, with remote participation via video-conference.

The hearing will be streamed on the STL website with a 30-minute delay in Arabic, English, and French.

Five Status Conferences have taken place so far in the Pre-Trial proceedings of the Ayyash Case; the first one took place on 22 July 2020, and the last one 3 February 2021.