Hariri case frozen pending request to remove judge

Daily Star, Hariri case frozen pending request to remove judge, June 29, 2007

By Hani M. Bathish

The Lebanese judiciary's investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and 22 others has been put on hold pending a court decision on whether to remove Judge Elias Eid as investigating magistrate in the case. Mohammad Mattar, the lawyer for the heirs of four Hariri bodyguards who died in the February 14, 2005, bombing, filed a request on Wednesday that Eid be replaced. Mattar cited Eid's alleged "intention" to release former security officials Raymond Azar and Jamil al-Sayyed before the conclusion of investigations. He also cited Eid's "overly friendly relations" with the lawyers and families of the four officers charged with involvement in the assassination: Sayyed, Azar, Ali al-Hajj and Mustafa Hamdan.
The request went on to express reservations about "direct praise" for Eid via the media by unnamed political factions.
Mattar said evidence pointed to "justified fears" of Eid's ability to rule without bias in the case. Eid's ability to work on the case was further cast into doubt by his recent urgent hospitalization due to stress, Mattar said.
A judicial source confirmed that Eid had been admitted to hospital for tests after his blood pressure had shot up. The judge was discharged after an examination, the source said.
The head of the Court of Appeals, Judge Jihad al-Wadi, referred Mattar's request on Thursday to the head of the 10th District, Judge Sami Mansour, who in turn informed Eid.
Eid has three days to respond to the request, either by stepping down or by rejecting it.
The opposition's follow-up committee, which met Thursday at Baath Party headquarters in Beirut, said the attempt to remove Eid from the case amounted to blatant political interference by the plaintiff's side into judicial affairs.
The committee said the motion was an overt attempt to improperly influence a judge.
Sayyed, through his lawyer Akram Azouri, submitted a new memorandum to Eid Thursday detailing what he referred to as "factors hindering justice" in the case. The former General Security chief asked for a decision from Eid regarding previously submitted requests that he be released from prison, his lawyer said.
The memorandum asked how Mattar could have obtained information that Eid intended to release Sayyed and Azar, adding that since the suspects' release had been the topic of private talks between Eid and State Prosecutor Said Mirza, its coming to light indicated an "intentional leak" of information in violation of legal ethical principles.
Sayyed added that all evidence and witness testimony submitted by the investigating commission so far had supported his case for release from custody. The memorandum referred to a conversation between Mirza and lead UN investigator Serge Brammertz in Eid's presence on December 8, 2006, in which Mirza pointed to "political considerations of national necessity" that required Sayyed's continued detention.
The memorandum asked how Mattar could conclude that Eid was "overly friendly" toward the detained officers, when it was Eid who oversaw their detention for two years "without any witnesses, evidence or proof."
It also said that on June 6, 2007, several personal lawsuits filed against the detained officers by families of victims of the Hariri bombing had been added to the case file. Sayyed said the file was with Mirza at the time and accused the Future Movement of organizing the lawsuits, which he said were unfounded.