Geagea: Hariri's murder an earthquake that killed 'new Lebanon'
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday posted a tweet commemorating slain ex-PM Rafik Hariri on the 18th anniversary of his assassination.
“The earthquake assassination that killed a major leader and the new Lebanon project,” Geagea said.
Last June, appeals judges at the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon sentenced two members of Hezbollah to life imprisonment for their alleged roles in the assassination.
Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi were tried in absentia at the court near The Hague, Netherlands, and convicted on appeal in March of five crimes, including being accomplices to the intentional homicide of Hariri and 21 others, and the wounding of 226 others.
Prosecutors appealed after the two men were acquitted in April 2020 following a lengthy trial that found another Hezbollah member, Salim Ayyash, guilty of involvement in the Feb. 14, 2005, blast. Ayyash, who also was tried in absentia, received a life prison sentence.
The trial judges said there was no evidence that Hezbollah's leadership and Syria were involved in the attack but noted the assassination happened as Hariri and his political allies were discussing calling for Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
Source: Naharnet
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