April 30, 2009 - Daily Star - The Special Tribunal and its decisions should be fully supported

Editorial
The decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to release four high-ranking military and security officials from custody on Wednesday will undoubtedly generate a storm of analysis and counter-analysis, along with the usual set of conspiracy theories and counter-conspiracy theories.
The Tribunal has certainly taken a beating from all sides in recent years, from those who believe that it's been moving too slowly in pursuit of justice, and those who believe that it's had no intention of seeking justice in the first place.
Significantly, MP Saad Hariri, the son of the man whose assassination lies at the heart of the matter, made an emphatic response immediately after the decision, calling on the Lebanese to continue to support the Tribunal's work.
In welcoming the decision, which was reached based on a lack of evidence against the four, the parliamentary majority leader said that it proved the body's impartiality in the case.
In one sense, the Tribunal's decision provided proof that the process is not politicized, and certainly that it's not operating on a Lebanese calendar. Critics and skeptics, who have maintained that the Special Tribunal was fixed from the beginning, must face the fact that this was the least suitable moment to take such a step. A magistrate who was aware of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon would act either long before the polls, or anytime afterward.
A counter-theory, which could be advanced by anyone disappointed by Wednesday's decision, is that the Special Tribunal's work will be hobbled by a deal between the world's most powerful countries and the regime in Damascus. Thus, the generals were released because a spectacular trade-off is being prepared, for geopolitical reasons, and justice will not be served.
In either case, the decision to release the four does not represent the entire judicial process of the Special Tribunal; it's not even the indictment. We do not and will know anything about the truth, or lack thereof, of accusations made against any side before the indictments are issued, the final verdict is handed down, and the appeals process is concluded.
Until we see the entire course of events play out, we will not see a development - like Wednesday's release - that is truly decisive.
We should listen to Hariri's response carefully: The Tribunal and its decisions should be supported, and we've seen that its work is not politicized. He said that Wednesday's decision didn't mean that guilty parties have escaped punishment. But Hariri also reminded us that the assassination wasn't a "traffic accident," and that it was an organized crime, one for which someone, and likely more than one person, should ultimately be held responsible.