Fransen Rejects Indictment Amendment, Baragwanath Suspends Defining 'Criminal Association'
Judge Sir David Baragwanath, President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, has decided to temporarily suspend proceedings to define the crime of “criminal association”, following Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen’s rejection of the Prosecutor’s request to amend the indictment, the STL said on Friday.
“The Prosecution had filed a confidential request to amend the indictment on 8 February and sought to add a count of ‘criminal association’ to the indictment. The Pre-Trial Judge then asked the Appeals Chamber to define ‘criminal association’, which is an offence under the Lebanese Criminal Code (article 335),” the tribunal announced in a statement.
Fransen later rejected the Prosecution’s request in a confidential decision on March 13, the STL said, noting that the rejection was based on “procedural grounds.”
Baragwanath has now asked the parties and the Defense Office to make submissions on whether the Appeals Chamber should continue with the process of defining “criminal association,” the STL added.
Source: Naharnet
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