Charge Sheet in Hariri Murder Case Completed…500 Witnesses Involved
The charge sheet in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been completed, the daily Asharq al-Awsat reported Saturday.
It quoted judicial a source as saying that the charge sheet will be announced after completion of the measures required for the launch of the international tribunal in The Hague March 1.
The source said a celebratory tone would prevail over the first court session. Officials would examine the so-called Procedure Law 10 days of the launch of the court.
The third phase, according to the source, involves scrutinizing files prior to referring them to court.
He told Asharq al-Awsat that these measures are likely to be completed before May.
The source said the transfer of the four detained Lebanese generals would take place before the announcement of the charge sheet.
Crossing out names of Syrian officials from a report that had been referred to the Security Council by Detlev Mehlis — former U.N. investigator in the Hariri case — is linked to the "principle of protecting these names from the report and not from the probe in order to ensure their own protection," the judicial source said.
"Consequently, these names would appear in court," he added.
The source said the number of witnesses interrogated by the U.N. investigation commission and Lebanese judicial authorities has reached 500.