Bellemare: We Will Request Generals” Transfer “As Soon As Possible”
Daniel Bellemare, public prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, said Sunday he will file a request "as soon as possible" for the transfer of four detained Lebanese generals to The Hague.
The generals – former head of the presidential guard Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar – have been in Lebanese custody since 2005 on suspected involvement in the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
"The generals will not be held in custody indefinitely. They will stand trial one day," Bellemare – the Canadian judge who assumed his post as prosecutor midnight Saturday – told al-Arabiya television in an interview.
The STL, which will start operations Sunday, was formed to try suspects in Hariri”s assassination.
"There are other suspects in the crime, in addition to the four generals," Bellemare said, "but we have not yet reached the indictment phase."
The STL will "work as fast as possible to complete investigations." He added that the international investigating commission will "meet with witness Zuhair al-Siddiq again."
Bellemare has two months from when the tribunal begins to ask for the generals to be brought to the Netherlands, and can urge the tribunal to either free them or keep them in custody.
"Crimes in Lebanon were not committed by ghosts. They were committed by members of a group of professionals or a government institution," Bellemare told al-Arabiya.
He acknowledged that some have cast doubt on the "possibility of launching" the STL, and called on all sides to "realize that the tribunal is now a reality."
In Beirut, Hizbullah second in command Sheikh Naim Qassem called on politicians to stop "meddling" in the judiciary to allow the "release of the four generals, who according to Amnesty International, are being unjustly detained."
The generals – who have not been indicted – are held on suspicion of premeditated murder, attempted premeditated murder and carrying out terrorist acts.
For her part, STL communications officer Suzan Khan said that security measures around the STL headquarters have been heightened for the tribunal”s inauguration. "There are no fears of security breaches or assaults" on Sunday, she told the pan-Arab al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Sunday”s ceremony will be attended by some 50 diplomats and 130 Lebanese and foreign journalists. Judge Omar Natour will be representing the Lebanese Ministry of Justice.