April 18, 2009 - Vincent resigns as Tribunal registrar, citing personal reasons

Najjar says D-Day set for deciding on detention of generals

By Andrew Wander

BEIRUT: The registrar at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Robin Vincent, has unexpectedly resigned just six weeks after the court opened its doors in The Hague. The tribunal, which is tasked with trying those suspected of involvement in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was opened in March, more than four years after Hariri died in a massive car-bomb explosion in downtown Beirut.
Vincent tendered his resignation to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon earlier this week, citing personal reasons, media reports said, adding that Lebanese authorities have been officially informed of Vincent's decision.
Ban is understood to have asked Vincent to remain in his post until June, when he will be replaced. The Ash-Sharq al-Awsat daily reported on Friday that a successor for Vincent had already been found and said that his name would be announced "soon."
Vincent, a British judge, took up the registrar's position at the Special Tribunal in March 2008. Prior to that, he had worked on several other cases of international prominence, including the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Sources close to the tribunal told local media that Vincent's resignation would not have a negative impact on the court's proceedings.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said that the prosecutor at the tribunal has been given until April 27th to decide whether or not to release four generals being held over Hariri's killing.
The former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, security chief Jamil Sayyed, general security head Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar have been held since 2005 in connection with the assassination plot.
Najjar told the AFP news agency that the tribunal's judge had instructed Daniel Bellemare to make a decision on whether to continue detaining the four men within the next nine days.
"After the 27th the judge ... will take a decision and call on the Lebanese authorities either to release the detainees or to hold on to them for the tribunal," he said.
Bellemare had asked for longer to decide, Najjar said, "due to the large number of files and papers which he has received from the Lebanese judiciary," but the judge in charge of the Tribunal, Daniel Fransen, had set a shorter deadline for a decision on the men's fate.
Bellemere is understood to have two options. If he decides that he no longer needs the four generals, he can recommend that Fransen orders their release.
Alternatively, he could recommend that a videolink hearing is established between the generals and the tribunal so they can give evidence pertaining to the case and their detention.
The generals were arrested in the months after Hariri's death and have remained in custody since, despite never having been charged with a crime. They have consistently denied involvement in the massive car bombing that killed the former premier.
Earlier this month, a Lebanese investigating judge, Judge Saqr Saqr, lifted arrest warrants for the generals, sparking rumors that their release was imminent.
However, he decided that they should remain in custody pending a decision by the tribunal's prosecutor.
The Tribunal announced on April 8th that Lebanon had provided the court with a comprehensive list of suspects detained in the country in connection with the Hariri's death.