Special Tribunal for Lebanon exonerates Hezbollah, Syria of involvement in Hariri assassination

HAGUE, Aug. 18 (YPA) – The Special Tribunal for Lebanon confirmed on Tuesday that it does not have any evidence of the involvement of Hezbollah leaders and Syrian regime in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The court stated in the ruling session on the defendants in the case that the assassination was carried out for political purposes, and that there is no evidence of the involvement of Syria and Hezbollah leaders in the case.

Judge David Re, while reading the summary of the court’s 2,600-page decision, asserted that the court had no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had a role in the assassination, and “there is no direct evidence of Syria’s involvement in the matter.”

The court also confirmed that the assassination of Hariri was carried out with 2,500 kilograms of explosives, and that “an anarchic approach was taken at the crime scene,” and said that the Internal Security Forces had removed from the scene of the assassination important evidence, including the Hariri convoy cars.

The court had charged four people with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. And the name of a fifth accused, former Hezbollah leader Mustafa Badr al-Din, was removed from the list, after his assassination in Syria in 2016.

The court indicated that it relied on cell phone communications to reach the accused.

YPA