April 29, 2009 - Naharnet - Tribunal Orders Release of Four Generals, Bellemare Vows to Continue Probe

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon ordered Wednesday the release of four Lebanese generals held for nearly four years without charge over the assassination of Lebanon's ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
"The pre-trial judge orders, unless they are held in another case, the release with immediate effect" of the four generals, judge Daniel Fransen said in a decision broadcast live to Lebanese television and via an Internet webcast.
He granted a request by prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who had stated in a submission filed Monday that he had no credible evidence on which to hold the men, said the judge. But Bellemare said the generals could be arrested again if more evidence against them is uncovered.
"The prosecutor considers that the evidence available to him currently is not sufficiently credible to request the detention of those persons," Fransen said.
"Based on that and the fact that these persons are presumed innocent, the prosecutor does not believe there is a need to keep them in detention at this point in the proceedings."
There was no reason to believe that the prosecutor's conclusion was wrong, said Fransen, adding that the generals "cannot at this stage of the investigation be considered as either suspects or accused persons.
"As a result ... they do not meet the conditions to be placed in provisional detention."
The four have been detained in Lebanon since 2005, but are legally in the custody of the tribunal since Beirut relinquished its jurisdiction in the Hariri case this month following the official opening of the STL in March.
They are the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, 53, security services director Jamil Sayyed, 58, domestic security chief Ali Hajj, 52, and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar, 56.
Fransen said a key witness had retracted a statement that initially incriminated the generals, undermining the case against them. Bellemare said in court he would not appeal.
So far, Bellemare has not indicted anyone and has not identified any other suspects in the 2005 suicide bombing. But he vowed to continue his investigation.
"Not only should people understand that the investigation is bigger than the case of the four officers, they should also understand that should any of the investigative leads direct us back to them with sufficient credible evidence I will seek their detention and indictment," he said in a statement.
Fransen instructed the Lebanese authorities "immediately to take the measures necessary to ensure the safety" of the four generals, and to free them without delay.
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told AFP that the four could be released as early as Wednesday afternoon.
"We worked to establish this tribunal, we have complete confidence in this tribunal and we must therefore abide by all its decisions," he said.
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said: "We have ordered immediate measures be taken to free the four generals and see them home safely."
Lawyers for the generals said the decision was four years too late.
"After 44 months, justice has been done and it should have been 43 months ago," Naji Bustany, counsel for Hamdan and Azar, told AFP.
Bustany welcomed Wednesday's ruling saying Fransen and Bellemare had shown objectivity and fairness in their decision.
"This is the result I was waiting for a long time ago," Hajj's lawyer Issam Karam told AFP. "I followed the case from the onset and there is nothing in the file that implicates the generals."
After the decision, celebratory gunfire broke out in the southern suburbs of Beirut while relatives of the four generals wept with joy.
Jamil Sayyed's son, Malek, said he had been confident that his father would be freed.
"The important thing is that they be released as soon as possible so that this continued unjustified detention comes to an end," he said.
Samar Hajj, wife of Ali Hajj, said from outside the prison that she was told they would be released within 24 hours.
"I'm too numb and too happy," she said.
Outside the prison on the outskirts of Beirut, dozens of relatives and well-wishers gathered in anticipation of the release.