Fransen Asks Bellemare to Clarify Reasons Why Some Documents Mustn't Be Disclosed to Sayyed

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has asked STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to clarify reasons why former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed should not be granted access to certain investigation documents.

"With this order, the Pre-Trial Judge is inviting the Prosecutor to provide reasons why individual documents or groups of documents in his possession, and which were allegedly in support of Sayyed's detention in Lebanon, should not be provided to Sayyed," STL's press office said in a communiqué.

"This is based on restrictions that the Pre-Trial Judge identified in his September 17 order," it added.

Bellemare will now have to provide Fransen with "reasons why the release of these documents could for instance cause prejudice to the investigation or could put the lives of people at risk," the communiqué went on to say.

STL's press office noted that "this order does not relate to the submission of an indictment to the Pre-Trial Judge by the Prosecutor."