STL Reverses Acquittals of Merhi and Oneissi in Hariri Case

The Appeals Chamber of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday reversed the acquittals of Hizbullah operatives Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi, convicting them of all charges against them and issuing arrest warrants for them.

"The chamber has unanimously decided to reverse the acquittals of Misters Merhi and Oneissi. We unanimously find Mr Merhi and Oneissi guilty," presiding judge Ivana Hrdlickova said.

"The evidence shows a significant number of exchanges between the (third) mobile phone and both Misters Merhi and Oneissi in the hours following the assassination of Mr Hariri," Hrdlickova added.

"Telecommunication evidence shows that Misters Merhi and Oneissi... simultaneously discarded their phones after the attack," she said.

It had been established "beyond reasonable doubt" that Merhi "knowingly and willingly entered into an agreement to participate in the commission of a terrorist act, namely the assassination of Mr Hariri by means of an explosive device," the judge added.

Moreover, Merhi could have foreseen that in attacking Hariri in such a public place "other people could have died."

Similarly, Oneissi too "knowingly and willingly" agreed to participate "in the commission of a terrorist act," said Hrdlickova.

Appeals judges at the Netherlands-based court said trial judges "erred" in 2020 by acquitting the two men, together with a third, in finding that there was a lack of evidence.

The Appeals Chamber will now proceed with sentencing proceedings in relation to Merhi and Oneissi.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the STL said the convictions of Merhi and Oneissi “resulted from the Prosecutor’s successful appeal against findings by the Trial Chamber,” adding that both men “played a significant role immediately after the attack to shield the perpetrators from justice.”

“Shortly after the attack, Merhi and Oneissi participated in the distribution of a video in which a fictitious group falsely claimed responsibility for the attack and ensured that the video would be collected and broadcast on Al-Jazeera television within hours of the attack,” the OTP said.

“The acts for which they have been convicted were callous and manipulative, designed not only to shield the real perpetrators from justice but to deceive the Lebanese people,” stated STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell

“But accountability does not end with their conviction. Merhi and Oneissi, along with their co-conspirator Salim Ayyash remain fugitives. Justice demands that they be arrested,” added the Prosecutor.

In addition to convicting Merhi and Oneissi, the Appeals Chamber concluded that a network of phones, labelled by the Prosecution as the “Green Network”, was used to coordinate the attack.

“Despite the sophisticated efforts by the perpetrators to conceal what took place in Lebanon on 14 February 2005, their role and participation were revealed through a complex investigation using technical data showing their use of telephone networks to coordinate and carry out the attack,” the Prosecutor said.

“This result would not have been reached without the efforts of courageous witnesses, including the victims. It is hoped that this judicial process and outcome will contribute to the strengthening of accountability as well as the role of international justice. I wish to thank my Deputy, and my team in The Hague and in Beirut for their excellent work and dedication,” the Prosecutor added.

The STL had in August 2020 convicted Hizbullah member Salim Ayyash of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, as it acquitted Merhi, Oneissi and Assad Sabra.

The STL said back then that Ayyash was guilty as a co-conspirator of five charges linked to his involvement in the suicide truck bombing. Hariri and 21 others were killed and 226 were wounded in a huge blast outside a seaside hotel in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.

The tribunal's 2020 verdict was met with anger and disappointment in parts of Lebanon after judges said there was no evidence that Hizbullah's leadership and Syria were involved in the attack, despite saying the assassination happened as Hariri and his political allies were discussing calling for Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.

Prosecutors based their case largely on data from mobile phones allegedly used by the plotters to plan and execute the bombing.

During the trial, which started in 2014 and spanned 415 days of hearings, the tribunal in Leidschendam, near The Hague, heard evidence from 297 witnesses.

Initially, five suspects were tried, all of them Hizbullah members. Charges against one of the group's top military commanders, Mustafa Badreddine, were dropped after he was killed in Syria in 2016. The court said in 2020 it could not prove that Badreddine was the mastermind behind the assassination.

Hizbullah has vowed not to hand over any suspects. The Iran-backed also denies involvement and claims that the case is an Israeli plot to tarnish the group.

The Special Tribunal is expected to close after the appeals phase because of a cash shortage, with a further case against Ayyash over attacks on several politicians likely to go unheard.