International Tribunal Orders Release of Four Generals, Secures their Safety
Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen announced Wednesday afternoon the court’s decision to release the four generals held in suspicion of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
The decision came following a letter sent by the tribunal’s prosecutor, Judge Daniel Bellemare, in which he recommended the generals’ release. The generals are Jamil Sayyed, Mustafa Hamdan, Ali Hajj and Raymond Azar, all who were held in Roumieh Prison since 2005.
Fransen said that “the fate of those persons are now in the hands of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon after the Lebanese authorities handed over the case, its evidence and files to the court.”
“The four generals will immediately be released,” he said and asked the Lebanese authorities to take “security measures during the [generals’] release process because of current circumstances” and especially because of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7.
The pre-trial judge reiterated Bellemare’s stance and said that the prosecutor “considers the provided information is not enough to keep the four generals in custody.”