STL Schedules Status Conference in Hawi-Murr-Hamadeh Case

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s Pre Trial Judge, Daniel Fransen, will hold a Status Conference on July 22, 2020, the STL said on Tuesday.

“The hearing aims at reviewing the status of the Ayyash case and ensuring the expeditious preparation for trial, through an exchange between the Prosecution, Defense and Legal Representatives of the Victims,” the STL said in a statement, referring to the case against Salim Ayyash, a suspected Hizbullah operative.

Ayyash is accused of perpetrating the bomb attacks against Lebanese politicians Marwan Hamadeh, George Hawi and Elias Murr on 1 October 2004, 21 June 2005 and 12 July 2005 respectively.

The Pre-Trial Judge had determined that these three cases are connected to the 14 February 2005 attack which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and many others. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon can have jurisdiction over persons responsible for attacks that took place in Lebanon between 1 October 2004 and 12 December 2005 if connectivity to the 14 February 2005 attack is determined.

In a scheduling order issued Tuesday, the Pre-Trial Judge stated that the hearing will begin at 10.00 AM (C.E.T.) The Status Conference will be public; however, the Judge might decide to go into closed session during the course of the hearing if confidential matters need to be discussed.

The Status Conference will take place in the STL courtroom, with the possibility for the participants who are unable or prefer not to be present, to participate via video-conference with prior authorization of the Pre-Trial Judge.

The hearing will be streamed on the STL website with a 30-minute delay in Arabic, English, and French.