Lebanese newspapers on Thursday tackled the content of the indictment,Sayyed Nasrallah Speach and the position of former PM Saad Harri.
Lebanese newspapers on Thursday tackled the content of the indictment, in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, which was announced on Wednesday.
Newspapers also tackled the speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, in which the S.G. assured the indictment didn’t provide any direct evidence.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) announced Wednesday that Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has ordered that his decision confirming the court’s indictment for the assassination of Hariri, as well as the indictment itself, be made public.
“In his decision confirming the indictment, [Fransen] found that the Prosecution has presented sufficient evidence on a prima facie basis to proceed to trial,” the STL said in a press release.
AS-SAFIR: INDICTMENT “USED UP AND EXPIRED”
The Thursday edition of as-Safir daily considered the indictment “scenario” was “used up and expired” since it was typical to what was stated by the German magazine, Der Spiegel, Canadian TV, CBC, and other Israeli and Arab media.
“The announcement of the indictment content (on Wednesday) had a dim impact as that which was when the names of the indicted people were released more than month ago. However that impact was different from what March 14 “falcons” had predicted, saying that the announcement of the content would have dangerous sequences on Lebanon”.
The daily added that indicting members of Hezbollah wasn’t a surprise, since these names were leaked years ago, something which threw away the tribunal credibility and the investigation confidentiality.
“The indictment, which was composed of 45 pages, included elaborated explanations and conclusions. However, who read this indictment from the judiciary and legal circles can say that it was unconvincing”.
As-Safir criticized the indictment, considering it included weakness points.
“The main weakness points in the indictment are probably represented by the fact that it allowed itself to slip into analyses rather than abiding by unquestionable facts and replaced conclusive evidence with circumstantial ones. The least one can say about these evidences, according to competent referential sources, is that it is scanty and of modest proportions”.
“In this context, it is clear that the indictment doesn’t serve the absolute truth, and doesn’t satisfy those who have been looking for definite evidence that convict the real perpetrators of the murder”.
The daily also tackled the evidence which the STL has based on, which was the telecommunication evidence.
“The telecommunications data was born dead for two considerations: the first one is that the indictment was based on binding between the time and the place between telephone calls and not on their content, something which raises the doubts over the strength of this fact, especially after it was proved that Israel and other countries can penetrate the telecommunications network”.
“The second consideration is that the telecommunications, even if were true, data can’t be considered an evidence at the level of criminal standards, according to many specialized and experts in the legal field”.
AN-NAHAR: INDICTMENT LONG-AWAITED
For its part, An-Nahar Daily said the announcement on Wednesday was long-awaited, in order to reveal the secrets behind the assassination of Hariri from one side, and from the other side to examine the professionalism of the STL.
“The indictment limited this dimension, which is an account of the dramatic facts regarding the crime, to the four suspects Mustapha Amine Badreddine, Samil Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra, in addition to other “unknown individuals”.
“The indictment did not include any other public development on behalf of the prosecution, which – according to Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen – Prosecution has presented initially sufficient evidence in order to move to other step which is trial”.
The daily also quoted legal sources as saying that the indictment “is the most advanced step in the process of proving its credibility and carrying out its mission, which aims to put an end to impunity”.
“According to the sources, the indictment proves that the accusations counts are limited to individuals and do not extend to groups; still, they neither exonerate nor incriminate any other party and mentions the existence of other unknown suspects. This means that another wave of indictments may still be issued”, the daily added.
AL-AKHBAR: CONCLUSIONS AND NON DIRECT CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCES
On the other hand, daily al-Akhbar considered the indictment as an “edited” copy of the report which was published by the Canadian TV, CBC, ten months ago.
“The indictment didn’t add too much to what the information branch had handed in 2006 to the international investigation committee. It is an initial indictment in which (Daniel) Bellemare sought to classify information which was available to all who wanted to obtain”.
“In what was permitted to publish, Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare reiterated for more than 12 times the two terms of “we can conclude” and “it is possible to conclude”. This dozen prompted the prosecutor to predict the content of a telephone call even without having an audio recording”, Hasan Olleiq Wrote in al-Akhbar.
AL-MUSTQBAL: STL UNSEALED JUST A PART OF INDICTMENT 
For its part, Al-Mustaqbal newspaper said that Sayyed Nasrallah has “ignored” former premier Saad Hariri’s invitation to take a “historical position”, adding that Hezbollah S.G. “tried to dismiss the indictment”.
It also considered that the issue “didn’t end here, the tribunal which has been walking firmly toward achieving justice didn’t show all of what it has concerning the indictment”.
The daily further talked about the indictment content, stating what the STL has published on its website.
