THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — Prosecutors argued Monday that the acquittal last year of two men charged with the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon was based on an incorrect interpretation of the evidence.
The prosecution at the Special Tribunal of Lebanon wants an appellate chamber of the United Nations court to overturn the acquittal of Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi for the 2005 bombing that killed Rafik Al Hariri and 22 others.
The lower chamber was “overly cautious and overly strict” in considering circumstantial evidence, prosecutor Norman Farrell told The Hague-based court on Monday. The ad-hoc tribunal, created by the U.N. in 2009, convicted one man, Salim Ayyash, in 2020 and sentenced him to five consecutive life sentences.
Hariri, a Lebanese business tycoon, became the country’s first prime minister following a 15-year civil war. His six-car convoy was traveling from a cafe en route to his home along a seaside road in Beirut on Valentine’s Day 2005 when a Mitsubishi van packed with 4,000 pounds of TNT exploded nearby.
Originally given a three-year mandate and predicted to cost $120 million, the tribunal has come under fire for both its expenses and slow pace. The investigation and trial have so far taken 15 years and cost about $1 billion, with the bill split between Beruit and private donors. In June, the court announced it was “facing an unprecedented financial crisis” and would be shutting its doors in July. However, the institution secured was able to secure sufficient funds to hear this appeal.
Prosecutors argue that the tribunal's lower chamber applied too high of a standard when considering the mostly circumstantial evidence presented at trial. Nearly all proof of the suspects’ involvement in the bombing was telecommunications data. The prosecution mapped out the movements of the five men using the location data of more than 50 phones.
None of the men, all thought to be members of the Shiite militia Hezbollah, are in custody, and the proceedings marked the first time criminal defendants were not present at an international tribunal since the post-World War II Nuremberg trials.
The whereabouts of Merhi, Oneissi and Ayyash are unknown, though they are thought to be in Syria. Charges against a fourth man, Mustafa Badreddine, were dropped after he was killed in Damascus in 2016.
The announcement of the verdict in 2020 had to be postponed after a massive explosion ripped through Lebanon's capital, killing nearly 200 people and injuring thousands. Since then, the country has experienced an economic crisis, with food and fuel shortages.
Hearings in the appeal will continue on Tuesday.
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