Special Tribunal resumes hearings after three week suspension
Daily Star
13
Jul
2016
BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon resumed hearings Tuesday after having been suspended since June 21. The case against Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Baddreddine, Hussein Oneissi, Hassan Merhi and Assad Sabra in the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was put on hold while awaiting the decision of an appeals court on whether there was sufficient evidence to confirm the death of the Badreddine.
Having reached a decision that there was enough evidence to show the Hezbollah commander had been killed in Syria in May, the court reconvened briefly to outline the coming days of the trial.
The presentation of evidence could not be continued and the entire defense team was not present because of the short period between the decision handed down at 4:30 p.m. on July 11 and the resumption of proceedings Tuesday at noon. The prosecution, in updating the court on the resumption of evidence, gave an “overall sketch of what we hope to achieve in the next three weeks or so,” which will focus on the cross-examination of witness for the prosecution, Mr. McLeod, on telecommunications evidence.
Phone records submitted by Lebanon’s two GSM networks touch and alfa have played a crucial role in the trial thus far as prosecutors claim the data can be used to retrace the movements of the accused in the lead-up to the 2005 attack.
