ANSD : STL defense teams to present closing arguments

MON 25 - 11 - 2024

Date: Sep 17, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

STL defense teams to present closing arguments

_{Victoria Yan| The Daily Star}
LEIDEN, Netherlands: The defense teams representing the Hezbollah-affiliated men accused of involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri are scheduled to begin their closing arguments Monday, after which only the final judgment will be left for the trial.

Emile Aoun, lead counsel for the defense for Salim Ayyash, is slated to begin first, followed by the defense teams for Hussein Oneissi, Assad Sabra and Hassan Merhi, respectively. As they are being tried as individuals rather than a group, each of the accused possesses his own team of attorneys at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

“Each counsel has their own views and strategies in how they believe their case should move forward,” Aoun previously told The Daily Star. Mohamed Aouini, lead counsel for Merhi, agreed, stating, “We are all [working] independently from one another.”

As the four accused are being tried in absentia for their alleged roles in the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of the former prime minister, both sides’ arguments have centered on circumstantial evidence – especially the digital footprints left by cellphone records allegedly belonging to the accused.

The prosecution has argued these data trails point directly to Ayyash, Oneissi, Sabra and Merhi as the organizers and perpetrators of the bombing that left a crater in Downtown Beirut and killed 21 others in addition to Hariri.

As they have had no contact whatsoever with their clients – who have yet to be found by Lebanese authorities – the defense has depended on debunking the acceptability of the cellular records.

In some cases, the defense teams have argued that insufficient evidence has been presented linking their clients to a particular cellphone.

Other arguments have been made that the cellular records are not enough to pinpoint their user’s location and therefore their movements.

After the prosecution concluded its case in February, the Oneissi defense team filed for a “judgment of acquittal,” arguing that not enough evidence was presented linking their client to the crime.

“The prosecution has not proven that Mr. Oneissi had the intent to commit a crime against the state security, or that he knew that an act of terrorism was to be committed,” lead counsel Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse said at the time.

Ultimately, the trial chamber rejected the motion, forcing the team to continue with the trial and defend their client.

In doing so, the Oneissi team most notably brought former head of General Security and current MP Jamil al-Sayyed to the witness stand.

They were the only defense team to do so.

The remaining attorneys chose not to call any witnesses, forcing the trial chamber to rely on their previous cross-examinations of the prosecution’s witnesses.

Given that the STL marks the first time an international trial has proceeded in absentia since the World War II Nuremberg trials, the defense team has had very few templates to base their strategies.

In a previous interview with The Daily Star, Aoun noted the difficulty of defending clients who are at large. Nevertheless, the duty in making a strong defense is essential in building the credibility of the case regardless of the circumstances, the lawyer said.

The defense teams’ closing arguments come after four days of closing arguments from prosecutors and the legal representative of the victims.

While the defense was originally scheduled to conclude their cases by Friday, STL spokesperson Wajed Ramadan said an extension could be possible if each team has not finished in due time.

The STL will be streaming online and on local television at 11:30 a.m. Beirut time.

Readers Comments (0)

Add your comment

Enter the security code below*


Can't read this? Try Another.