STL Publishes Redacted Version of Pre-Trial Brief: Prosecution Intends to Call 557 Witnesses

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued a public redacted version of the Prosecution’s Pre-Trial Brief, which is now available on the STL website, it announced in a statement on Monday.

According to the Brief, the Prosecution intends to call 557 witnesses and there are 13,170 exhibits on the exhibit list, and the total time estimated for presentation of the Prosecution’s case is 457.5 hours.

The STL had announced on Friday that the Prosecution has filed its Pre-Trial Brief, the list of witnesses it intends to call at trial, and the list of exhibits it intends to offer into evidence in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Thursday's filing is in accordance with a deadline set by Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen as part of the preparation for trial, the STL said in a statement.

“The Prosecution’s 58-page Pre-Trial Brief elaborates on the allegations and charges in the Indictment,” it said.

The Brief “includes for each count charged in the Indictment, a summary of the evidence which the Prosecution intends to bring regarding the commission of the alleged crime and the form of responsibility incurred by the accused.”

The documents were all filed on a confidential basis, the statement said, adding the list of Witnesses and list of Exhibits will remain fully confidential, unless the judges decide otherwise.

But the STL said it would release a public redacted version of the Pre-Trial Brief soon.

Warrants have been issued against Hizbullah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra in the Feb. 2005 assassination of Hariri in a massive car bombing on the Beirut seafront.

Fransen announced in July that the trial of the four men would provisionally start on March 25 next year, even though the defendants are still at large.