STL Defense Office Assigns Permanent Counsel to Accused in Hariri Assassination

The Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense Office Francois Roux assigned permanent counsel to the four accused in the case Prosecutor v. Ayyash et al., announced the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in a press release on Friday.

The Trial Chamber decided that the accused will be tried in absentia and on Wednesday Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen requested the assignment of counsel, it added.

Roux assigned the eight counsel that were previously assigned as duty counsel.

He stated that “he is confident that he assigns experienced and competent counsel. They are fully independent and can choose any strategy they see best fit to defend the rights of the accused.”

The Prosecutor is now required to disclose the indictment supporting materials to the counsel within 30 working days, said the statement.

The defense counsel face the difficult task of representing and defending the accused without communicating with him.

In order to assist in achieving equality of arms, the Defense Office shall provide counsel with legal advice and practical support.

Hizbullah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra are wanted for the February 2005 suicide car bomb attack in Beirut that killed former Premier Rafik Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber.

Ayyash has been named in the indictment as coordinator of the assassination team.

The court on August 17 unsealed the indictment against the four suspects and has said Lebanon must try harder to apprehend them.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he doubted the four indictees will ever be found and has branded the tribunal a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy aimed at bringing down the party.

He also ruled out that Hizbullah will support the funding of the STL, stating that if the cabinet failed to reach consensus on the matter, then it should be submitted to vote at the parliament.

Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges including that of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Oneissi and Sabra faced charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.