Following the decision of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Saad Hariri calls on Hezbollah to take responsibility

The former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, said today that he accepts the ruling of the International Tribunal for Lebanon, which convicted the main accused in the case of the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, and called on Hezbollah to bear responsibility after the court convicted one of its members in masterminding the assassination.

In a press statement after attending the session of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Dutch city of The Hague, Hariri added, "What is required of him today is Hezbollah, and it has become clear that the culprits are among its ranks and believe that they will not be punished ... We say we will not rest until the retribution is carried out."

The former Lebanese prime minister said, "The time for a terrorist crime to be committed with impunity is over," adding that "the goal of the terrorist crime was to change the face of Lebanon, its system and its identity, and this cannot be compromised."

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon convicted Salim Ayyash, 65, in absentia, for the assassination of Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005 with a truck bomb, while the rest of the three defendants, Assad Sabra (45 years), Hussein Oneissi (43 years), and Hassan Merhi (43 years) acquitted the remaining three defendants. 43 years old, from the assassination of Hariri, but she was convicted of the first and the second on charges of misleading the court.

The court did not announce the penalties against Ayyash, but that will be in a separate subsequent session, and Ayyash faces a possible penalty, which is life imprisonment.

The court said that the defendants' defense has one month to respond to the verdict or to request an appeal.

The public prosecutor and the convicted person shall have the right to appeal the verdict or sentence, and in the event that one of the accused is arrested, he may request a retrial.

Today, the First Instance Chamber issued its judgment in the Ayyash et al. (STL-11-01) case. The Chamber of First Instance unanimously decided that the accused, Salim Jamil Ayyash, is guilty in a manner not tainted by any reasonable suspicion of all the charges against him. The summary judgment is available in two parts here: https://t.co/m6nC5YN6DC and here: https://t.co/0J1kofcITw

- Special Tribunal for Lebanon (@STLebanon) August 18, 2020

The court had charged the four defendants with charges of 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.

Rafik Hariri was killed in a suicide bombing that targeted his convoy in front of the ancient St. George Hotel in central Beirut. According to the Special Court for Lebanon, "the equivalent of 2,500 to 3,000 kilograms of" TNT "was used. RDX is highly explosive, and the court was unable to reveal the identity of the suicide bomber.

Syria and Hezbollah
The court did not obtain any evidence that the leadership of Hezbollah and Syria were involved in the assassination of Rafik Hariri. However, it stressed that the assassination was carried out for political purposes, and confirmed that the crime was carried out with 2,500 kilograms of explosives, and that "an anarchic approach was followed at the crime scene." She said that the Internal Security Forces removed important evidence from the scene of the assassination, including the cars of Hariri's convoy.

The director of Al-Jazeera’s Beirut office, Ihab Al-Aqdi, said that President Michel Aoun and the resigned Prime Minister Hassan Diab made statements following the issuance of the Special Court, stressing that "justice is the way to the stability of the country."

Aoun added that this stability was what Rafik Hariri sought during his tenure in the government.

Earlier in the day, the Lebanese President called for the acceptance of any decision issued by the International Tribunal for the Hariri assassination case, criticizing at the same time the slowness of the trial procedures.

In turn, former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati ruled out fueling the Lebanese street after the verdict was pronounced in the case, saying in a statement this morning, "God willing, nothing will happen."

Hezbollah refused to hand over the accused to the International Court, and denied the accusations against them, stressing that it did not recognize the court, which it considers "politicized."

The party’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, said last Friday that his party would deal with the court’s decision "as if it had not been issued."

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Beirut, Johnny Tanios, stated that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said after the verdict that the time is now to restore the country, referring to the crises the country is experiencing, namely the economic crisis, the treatment of the repercussions of the Beirut explosion, and the required political and administrative reforms.

International reactions
In international reactions, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Foreign Ministry as saying that the verdict in the case of the assassination of Rafik Hariri represents "an emergence of the truth and the beginning of achieving justice by prosecuting, arresting and punishing those involved."

Riyadh called for "punishing Hezbollah and its terrorist elements," considering that the assassination of Hariri was "one of the most destructive acts that affected the security and stability of Lebanon," and the party's involvement in its implementation has been proven.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also commented on the verdict in the Hariri assassination case, by saying that Hezbollah "has mortgaged the future of the Lebanese people."

The ministry added in a statement that the court’s decision is clear and unambiguous, and proves "Hezbollah's involvement in the murder and obstruction of the investigation."

British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs James Cleverley tweeted on his Twitter account, saying that convicting a Hezbollah member for plotting to kill the former prime minister "is a step towards achieving justice. Those who commit such atrocities must be held accountable."

It is noteworthy that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was established on December 13, 2005, at the request of the Lebanese government to the United Nations, and Lebanon and the United Nations reached an agreement on the tribunal, which the international organization made effective through the UN Security Council issuing a resolution bearing the number 1757.

The law establishing the court came into effect on June 10, 2007, and its first public session was held in The Hague in March 2009. The court includes Lebanese and international judges, and it is not affiliated with the United Nations or part of the Lebanese judicial system, but it is required by the Lebanese Penal Code.