Special Tribunal For Lebanon - Controversies - False Witnesses

False Witnesses

The term "false witnesses" is a frequent talking point in the criticisms of 8 March officials directed toward the tribunal. The charges leveled by detractors stem from the initial investigation led by the United Nations International Independent Investigation Committee, which gathered much of the evidence for the tribunal, and which critics claim is based largely on false testimonial.

This phrase takes its weight predominantly from the discredited testimony of two men, Mohammad Zuheir Siddiq and Husam Taher Husam, who identified themselves as former Syrian intelligence officers, and alleged top-level Syrian involvement in the killing of Hariri. In 2009, Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare declared that they were "no longer of interest to the court."

General Jamil al Sayyed filed a lawsuit in December 2009 in Damascus because he "did not have faith in Lebanon's judiciary," which he accused of covering up for "false witnesses." Mohammed Zaheer Al Sadiq, a former Syrian agent, accused Hezbollah personnel of "logistical involvement" in the murder. The tribunal has stated, however, that he is no longer considered a credible witness. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, stated that Al Sadiq should be tried for acting as a false witness. Following his deportation from the UAE, where he was held for entering that country under a false Czech passport, he remains in hiding in France.

Upon the Lebanese cabinet giving Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar the task of studying the issue of false witnesses, STL spokeswoman Fatima el-Issawi said the tribunal does not comment on the decisions of the Lebanese government. She added that the STL had been authorised to prosecute those involved in the assassination and that if conditions were available, the authorisation would also include the suspects of other attacks that took place in Lebanon between 1 October 2004 and 12 December 2005 or later. Michel Aoun said a case had been filed to resolve the issue of false witnesses. He also claimed that the government and judiciary have tried to cover up the matter and said it was not the prerogative of the Justice Minister to "starting an investigation that will determine their innocence." Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP, Nabil Nicolas, said the testimony made by Sadiq included the signature of Wissam Hasan, the head of the Intelligence Bureau of the Internal Security Forces, (an organisation is considered illegal by the FPM) as a "translator." He said the data was very dangerous and urging the Lebanese judiciary to open investigations to examine its credibility. The Justice Minister, Ibrahim Najjar, issued his report into the false witnesses saga that was tasked to him on 18 August. In the report he reiterated "The principle of independence of the judiciary as stated in the Constitution;" "Respect for international agreements (namely that between Lebanon and the United Nations on the formation of a special tribunal for Lebanon); and "The principle of confidentiality of the investigation." He also said Siddiq was never questioned by the judicial authorities, but only as a witness by the International Committee after leaving Lebanon in April 2005. The STL's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, in response to the justice minister's letter that "false witnesses are witnesses with their credibility in question as long as there is no final Court decision yet." Bellemare reportedly said in his response to Najjar's letter. The cabinet was set to discuss the matter, amidst Hezbollah's view that it had contradictions and others saying it was political.

A Hezbollah official, Nabil Qaouk, suggested that all sides in Lebanon would agree that trying the false witnesses who misled the investigation and caused the internal political crisis in the country, as well as harmed Lebanese-Syrian relations for the five years since the assassination, would be a "natural solution to the current crisis." Nasrallah also accused the STL and the UN of protecting the false witnesses. the party's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem held talks with the Tawheed Movement leader Wiam Wahhab that concluded: "Opening the false witnesses file is a priority that would fortify the internal Lebanese scene against foreign meddling and wrongful accusations." The head of Hezbollah's Juristic Council, Sheikh Mohamad Yazbek, also called the STL politicised and called for the a tribunal "which seeks the truth." In October, Berri said his Development and Liberation bloc ministers would not attend cabinet sessions without discussion towards ending the "false witnesses" issue. He also expressed his view that the Justice Council would be a better place to work out the whole imbroglio.

Speaking about the false witness, Saad Hariri backtracked on his own accusations that Syria killed his father, saying "Some people have misled the probe and harmed Syria and Lebanon. They have harmed ties between the two countries and politicized the assassination." He said the charge had been politically motivated. However, his fellow 14 March colleague and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said he rejected Hariri’s "reconsideration strategy." The Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir also said that though he did not know about the false witnesses, they "should be held accountable." Former 14 March MP Walid Jumblatt rejected calls for Hariri resignation saying he was needed to deal with the "problems of the country as a whole, like false witnesses and others."

al-Sayyed's lawyer, Fasih al-Ashi, said after repeated summons by Syria for the accused false witnesses were ignored, a Syrian court issued more than 30 warrants against judges, officers, politicians and journalists from various Arab countries. The accused include: Lebanese MP Marwan Hamade, State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, Internal Security Forces chief Major General Ashraf Rifi, Information Branch chief Wissam Hasan, Journalist Fares Khashan, Saad Hariri's advisor Hani Hammoud, Judge Saqr Saqr, Former head of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) Detlev Mehlis and his aide Gerhard Lehmann, and witnesses Ibrahim Michel Jarjoura, Akram Shakib Murad, Mohammed Zuheir Siddiq and Abdul Baset Bani Audeh. Syria's Foreign Minister, Walid Muallem, however, said the warrants were "purely procedural." Berri reacted to the warrants saying they were a response to "unjustified sluggish" dealing with the issue in Lebanon after Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar's report in August on an appropriate mechanism to follow up on this issue "but nothing happened ever since." He said "the Lebanese judiciary should have moved automatically to investigate the case after honest statements made by me, President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Had the issue been seriously and swiftly tackled, the arrest warrants would not have been issued." One of the accused, Fares Khashan, a journalist, sought asylum in France.