Daily Star - Fadlallah urges release of four in Hariri case, September 04, 2007
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said the four officers suspected in the slaying of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri should be released from custody if no evidence of their guilt can be presented. Fadlallah's comments came after lawyers for the detained officers called on him Monday. The delegation included former Minister Naji Boustani, the lawyer for both Ali al-Hajj and Raymond Azar; Akram Azouri, the lawyer for Jamil al-Sayyed; Samar al-Hajj, the wife of Ali al- Hajj; and former Bar Association president Issam Karam. Karam said evidence is the only thing people will accept. "The lack of evidence is in the defendants' interest and requires the judiciary to set them free," Karam said.
Fadlallah said the continued detention of the four officers represents an injustice "we will not tolerate, nor should any justice system tolerate," asking that the state assume its responsibilities and prevent politicians from interfering in the judiciary. "The case of the four officers strikes at the very core of the Lebanese judiciary. We continue to desire to see the judiciary as the champion of truth," he said. "The continuity of the country and its future stems from the existence of an independent judiciary." Fadlallah also pointed to "indirect interference" in the Hariri case through praise by US Foreign Secretary Condoleezza Rice on Lebanon's judiciary and its performance in this case. At the same time the senior cleric said all of Lebanon condemns the slaying and pointed to the need to bring the "real" killers to justice.
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said the four officers suspected in the slaying of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri should be released from custody if no evidence of their guilt can be presented. Fadlallah's comments came after lawyers for the detained officers called on him Monday. The delegation included former Minister Naji Boustani, the lawyer for both Ali al-Hajj and Raymond Azar; Akram Azouri, the lawyer for Jamil al-Sayyed; Samar al-Hajj, the wife of Ali al- Hajj; and former Bar Association president Issam Karam. Karam said evidence is the only thing people will accept. "The lack of evidence is in the defendants' interest and requires the judiciary to set them free," Karam said.
Fadlallah said the continued detention of the four officers represents an injustice "we will not tolerate, nor should any justice system tolerate," asking that the state assume its responsibilities and prevent politicians from interfering in the judiciary. "The case of the four officers strikes at the very core of the Lebanese judiciary. We continue to desire to see the judiciary as the champion of truth," he said. "The continuity of the country and its future stems from the existence of an independent judiciary." Fadlallah also pointed to "indirect interference" in the Hariri case through praise by US Foreign Secretary Condoleezza Rice on Lebanon's judiciary and its performance in this case. At the same time the senior cleric said all of Lebanon condemns the slaying and pointed to the need to bring the "real" killers to justice.
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