BEIRUT: The prosecutor of the U.N.-backed court investigating the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri has hit back at accusations made by Hezbollah that the tribunal was an “American-Israeli” conspiracy.
In a statement Monday, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who handed down his first indictment last week, defended the integrity of his staff.

“The staff of the [office of the prosecutor has] been recruited on the basis of their professionalism, impartiality and expertise, and I have full confidence in their strong commitment to finding the truth,” Bellemare said.
In a televised address Saturday evening, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah accused STL investigators of bias and corruption, pointing out that several individuals who worked for the court were former CIA operatives that had previously targeted members of the resistance.

“The staff of the [office of the prosecutor] act independently and in good faith in their search for the truth,” Bellemare said Monday.
In his first indictment, which authorities in Beirut received Thursday, Bellemare named four Hezbollah members in arrest warrants, judicial sources said.

Hezbollah has long called for a Lebanese boycott of the court, which Nasrallah has referred to as “an Israeli project.” He vowed that authorities would be unable to apprehend Hezbollah operatives named in the indictment.
Nasrallah also accused the court of ignoring “evidence” gathered by Hezbollah suggesting Israel was involved in the crime, which killed Hariri and 22 others on Feb. 14, 2005. A court release said that Bellemare would welcome any information from Hezbollah: “The prosecutor welcomes Mr. Nasrallah’s offer to provide the file that he stated he has on some elements of the investigation and requests the video material that was shown on television during his televised statement, as well as any other information and documents that would assist the tribunal in its ongoing pursuit of justice.”

Nasrallah accused the court, along with the U.N.’s initial probe into the assassination, of demonstrating bias by holding four pro-Syrian generals for four years, without charge, before Bellemare ordered their release following the STL’s inception in 2009.

Bellemare dismissed the claim, saying that the men’s release “demonstrated that when [the prosecutor] is not satisfied with the credibility or reliability of the evidence he will not hesitate to reject it.”
In a leaked internal court memo sent by STL President Antonio Cassese and seen by The Daily Star, the Italian judge told staff that he was sorry for the tribunal’s inability to defend itself from criticism.

Bellemare said that a fair trial was the best way to respond to those who disparaged the operation. “The prosecutor will not engage in a public debate in the media about the credibility of his investigation or of the investigative process. This is a judicial process and should be treated as such. In this context, the proper forum to challenge the investigation or the evidence gathered as a result, is in open court during a trial that will fully comply with international standards,” the statement from his office said.

Lebanon is obliged under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757 to cooperate with the STL. The Cabinet policy statement, finalized in the wake of the indictment, fell short of explicitly guaranteeing Lebanon will continue to help the court.