Fate of 4 Generals to be Announced Today: Will they Stay in Custody or Go Free?
3 p.m. Wednesday is the deadline for the international tribunal to announce its decision whether to release or keep in custody the four Lebanese generals held for nearly four years without charges over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Daniel Fransen, the pre-trial judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based in The Hague, is set to make public his decision at 1200 GMT in a broadcast transmitted live on Lebanese television and in an Internet webcast.
Fransen can either follow the recommendations of the STL”s prosecutor Daniel Bellemare which were submitted earlier this week but have not been made public, or issue a different ruling.
A U.N. investigative commission has said there was evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were linked to Hariri”s killing. Damascus has consistently denied any involvement.
The ruling will also carry political impact as it comes ahead of a crucial legislative election in June which will see the current parliamentary majority headed by Hariri”s son Saad fight it out with a Hizbullah-led alliance.
The daily As Safir on Wednesday quoted well-informed sources as saying that the four generals are more likely to be awarded freedom but placed under house arrest.
The STL”s decision is eagerly awaited in Lebanese political circles as the court has been at the center of a tug of war between Lebanon”s pro- and anti-Syrian factions.
The four generals are Jamil Sayyed, the General Security chief and probably the most powerful Lebanese under Syrian dominance, police chief Ali Hajj, the army intelligence chief Raymond Azar, and the head of the Presidential Guard Brigade Mustafa Hamdan. They allegedly met to plot the killing of Hariri.
Al Akhbar newspaper for its part carried out different viewpoints in this regard.
It quoted former Justice Minister Samir Jisr as saying that the generals are kept in detention as suspects and the decision to release them or keep them in custody has nothing to do with their conviction or their innocence.
"The final decision is issued by the international tribunal," he said.
Head of Beirut Bar Association Ramzi Jreij agreed, stressing that Fransen "cannot deal lightly with such decisions."
Professor of international law at Georgetown University Daoud Khairallah, however, expressed doubt over the continuation of the generals” detention, saying they are likely to be freed but not allowed to leave Lebanese territory.