April 23, 2009 - Naharnet - Cassesse Tours Mideast

Cassesse Tours Mideast, Including Syria and Iran, Seeking Cooperation in Hariri Murder Case

Lebanese judge Ralf Riashi has been appointed deputy president of the international tribunal as the court president uncovered he will visit Lebanon mid-May and tour Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Iran seeking judicial cooperation in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Antonio Cassesse said his tour is aimed at urging Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Iran to sign "cooperation agreements" with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "in order to allow the court to listen to statements of the witnesses and suspects in a manner that takes into account the sovereignty of these countries. "

The Italian judge, speaking in separate interviews published in Lebanese newspapers on Thursday, said signing a similar agreement with Israel is related to the viewpoint of the STL prosecutor Daniel Bellemare "in terms of the possibility of the presence of witnesses or suspects there."

He said similar deals would be cut with countries where "many Lebanese citizens reside," including France, Brazil, Australia and Venezuela.

Cassesse spoke about possible scenarios regarding the fate of the four top former security generals, stressing that Bellemare is the one to decide whether or not to keep them in custody.

He stressed the need to reach a decision on the fate of the four generals in a period not later than three weeks.

"If we release them and the prosecutor decided to re-arrest one of them, they could escape," Cassesse warned.

He pointed to two scenarios: the first that the prosecutor could come out with a conclusion that there is not enough evidence to charge the four generals and thus would demand their release.

The second scenario, according to Cassesse, is that the prosecutor would find evidence to convict at least one or two generals.

Bellemare, at this point, would ask the judge to release some of the generals and request the transfer of the others to a prison in The Hague.

Following their transfer, the defense attorneys could request their release on conditional bail.

Cassesse said it is likely in the event the judge agrees to release them on conditional bail that they would come to Beirut.

He said court officials heard about the arrest of key witness in the Hariri case Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq through the media, adding that the United Arab Emirates has sent no official letter in this regard.

For his part, Lebanese judge Riashi defended measures taken by Lebanese judicial authorities which led to the arrest of the four generals for nearly four years.

The daily As Safir, meanwhile, said Bellemare has requested from Belgian pre-trial magistrate Daniel Fransen "extra time" to justify the detention of the four generals or order their release.