Victims Ask for Redress, Justice at STL Hearing

A Special Tribunal for Lebanon Trial Chamber hearing opened for the second day on Thursday as the legal representative of victims in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination called for redress and justice.

The victims “seek the truth, expiation, redress and justice and they have applied to this tribunal to give effect to the rights which nobody seriously challenges that they have,” said Peter Haynes.

“We are here for our views to be heard but we are not party to what will remain an adversarial process,” he told the hearing.

Lawyers for four Hizbullah members indicted by the STL said on the first day of the hearing on Wednesday that the court has no right to exist and should dissolve itself.

The U.N. Security Council abused its powers when it set up the court five years ago, they said, adding the world body decided to impose itself on Lebanon when it adopted the resolution establishing the tribunal.

But Haynes said that the claims of lack of constitutionality are based on the arbitrary denial to the Lebanese parliament of the opportunity to express its view in the subject.

In his response, the lead counsel of one of the suspects, Antoine Korkmaz, reiterated that an agreement signed between the Lebanese government and the U.N. wasn’t approved by then President Emile Lahoud and the parliament.

“There has been a manifest violation of the Lebanese constitution. There is a principle in international law whereby the constitution takes precedent,” he stressed.

Co-counsel Emile Aoun, also said in the hearing that article 49 of the Lebanese constitution says the president is the head of state.

“It’s not the government that represents the state,” he said, reminding the judges and lawyers at the hearing that Shiite ministers had at that time resigned from the cabinet.

Trial Chamber Judge Robert Roth said at the end of the hearing that the defense of the four Hizbullah suspects has requested access to all of the documents upon which the Trial Chamber’s rulings are based.

The defense “will have three working days following the disclosure of the documents to file if necessary a supplementary motion,” he said.