June 26, 2009 - Daily Star - Tribunal sets up website to get information on Hariri killing

People with knowledge of crime can send secure message

By Dalila Mahdawi

BEIRUT: A UN-backed tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri activated a secure website Thursday enabling people to send in information they might have about the case. The website, available in the tribunal's three official languages - French, English and Arabic - was "designed specifically for individuals who have valuable information for the investigation but have no secure and confidential means to contact the Investigation Division of the Office of the Prosecutor," a statement from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's (STL) prosecutors office said.
Such websites are not uncommon for criminal investigations, senior spokesperson for the office of Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, Radhia Achouri, told The Daily Star.
The website was partially launched in response to complaints that the Tribunal was not accessible enough after it established its headquarters in Leidschendam, The Netherlands in March this year, she said.
"The important aspect of this is we want people to feel safe enough" to relay any information they might have about Hariri's killing, and to "communicate with us without fear of being exposed," Achouri added, emphasizing the tribunal's concern for the personal safety of those who use the website.
"While we are trying to get information that might be useful, we don't want to do it in a way that could jeopardize the safety of anybody."
All information sent to investigators through the website would be thoroughly vetted to ensure its authenticity, Achouri said, adding the tribunal was "not working in a vacuum."
The website's English page can be accessed at https://www/stl-tsl.org/action/submissionform or through a secure page linked to the Tribunal's main website. Users can opt for anonymity and can stipulate whether they wish to be contacted by investigators.
The STL announced on Wednesday that Lebanese Judge Ralph Jacques Riachy had assumed his full-time duties as Vice-President of the tribunal as of June 8. "I am pleased and honored to be working with a colleague with the caliber of Judge Riachy. His experience in Lebanese law, which is the STL's applicable law, is invaluable. It is in fact crucial to the success or our work. Having a Vice-President as experienced as Judge Riachy based fulltime in Leidschendam will undoubtedly enhance the Tribunal's operations," a STL press release quoted President Antonio Cassese as saying.
It is "important to remember that the STL is a hybrid Tribunal that deals with a crime that occurred in Lebanon and that applies Lebanese law," he said.
"This Tribunal [therefore] has to be guided by the joint efforts of an international Judge and a Lebanese Judge," he added.
Riachy is one of four Lebanese judges appointed to the tribunal by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in December 2007. He was sworn in this March.
Billionaire and five-time Premier Hariri was killed on February 14, 2005, along with 22 others in a truck bombing as his convoy passed through Beirut's seafront.
His murder, the first in a string of similar political assassinations targeting anti-Syrian politicians, was widely blamed on the Syria, and pushed Damascus to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 30 years of dominating the country's political affairs. A tribunal to investigate Hariri's assassination was established by the UN Security Council in 2007.
Damascus has fervently denied allegations of involvement in the crime and has cooperated with the UN investigations.
After releasing four Lebanese generals held since 2005 without charge in connection with Hariri's killing, the STL has no suspects in custody and has yet to issue any indictments.