The verdicts from the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon near the Hague in the Netherlands were delivered more than 15 years after Hariri was killed in bomb attack that also claimed the lives of 21 other people.
The court, which has no authority to try groups of states, also said on Tuesday that there was no evidence that the leadership of Hezbollah — which maintains huge influence over Lebanese politics — or Syria were involved.
President Judge David Re said however that both entities had “motives to eliminate” Hariri, arguing that the murder of the prominent politician “did not happen in a historical or political vacuum”.
Their verdicts concerned four identified Hezbollah suspects — Salim Ayyash, also known as Abu Salim; Assad Sabra, Hassan Oneissi, who changed his name to Hassan Issa and Hassan Habib Merhi — who had been charged with offences including conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, and face maximum sentences of life imprisonment if convicted.
Only Salim Ayyash was found guilty on all charges but he is unlikely to serve any prison time — the four suspects have never been detained despite international arrest warrants and Hezbollah has vowed never to hand over any suspects.
Charges had initially been charged against a fifth Hezbollah suspect, one of the group’s top military commanders Mustafa Badreddine, but were dropped after he was killed in Syria in 2016.
Judge Re had stressed that the evidence against the four accused was “almost entirely circumstantial”. The tribunal also said they could not determine who detonated the bomb but that dozens of body parts belonging to an unknown male, whom they believe to be the suicide bomber, were recovered from the scene.
Source: “Al-Nahar”
