July 14, 2010 - Naharnet - STL Postpones to September Decision on Sayyed's Request for Access to 'False Witnesses' Records

Daniel Fransen, Pre-Trial Judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, on Tuesday announced the postponement to September of a decision on the request of former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed for access to certain investigation documents, especially records related to the so-called "false witnesses" issue.
The judge asked Sayyed to re-file his request in written format.

Sayyed stressed Tuesday that the existence of "tens of false witnesses in late premier Rafik Hariri's assassination demonstrates that a conspiracy surrounds the tribunal."

He made his statements during a public hearing at the tribunal's headquarters in The Hague on his request for access to certain documents connected to the investigation.

He thanked in his opening statement STL's judge for granting him the hearing, adding: "The Lebanese courts' relinquishment of its responsibilities of trying false witnesses allowed us to approach your court to acquire justice and evidence."

Sayyed stressed: "This hearing is not aimed at examining my wrongful imprisonment, but I would like to remind everyone of your decision to release us from jail on April 29, 2009, which led to this moment."

"Your decision is the first public admission of the existence of false witnesses" he continued.

The former security chief asked: "Why should false witnesses be overlooked in an investigation that has focused on them? They managed to deceive the court and there is no place to try them."

Sayyed revealed that he had been approached to be a false witness, but he refused, saying that he had been told "either you hand over a victim or you be the victim."

Meanwhile, his lawyer, Akram Azouri said that his client was not requesting a judgment against an individual, but he is asking to have access to certain information.

He stated that no investigations are carried out in Lebanon over false testimonies and all that Sayyed had presented before Lebanese courts were rejected, and that they were then referred to The Hague where the court announced it would not consider them either.

He continued: "Syria, like the rest of the world, did not sign any cooperation agreement with the court, so how can we come up with a witness from it?"

"It is necessary to remind everyone that the General was imprisoned and released without knowing the reasons for his detention and without being able to study his investigation file," Azouri.

He concluded: "No general prosecutor can withhold files related to evidence and his only choice is to hand over the files to the plaintiff who will assume his responsibilities and prosecute whoever he believes is involved."

"I'm a plaintiff in The Hague (court) and not a defendant," Sayyed told the daily As-Safir in remarks published Tuesday.

Earlier Monday, Sayyed rehearsed the public hearing with his lawyer for more than three hours at the STL building on Dokter Van der Stamstraat 1 in Leidschendam.

"We are not after suspense," Sayyed said in a separate interview with Al-Akhbar newspaper. "But the whole issue may contain surprises."