Special Tribunal For Lebanon - Indictment

Indictment

The first indictments were submitted on 17 January 2011 to the pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen. A STL statement read: "The prosecutor of the tribunal has submitted an indictment and supporting materials to the pre-trial judge...The contents of the indictment remain confidential at this stage." In March, the prosecutor filed an amendment to the indictment, with media speculating that it could name senior as well as rank and file Hezbollah members.

In reaction to the submission, U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the first indictment saying it could end an "era of impunity" and that it was "a significant and emotional time for the Lebanese people" and that "the US were joining the international community in calling on all leaders and factions to preserve calm and exercise restraint." Lebanon's Foreign Minister Ali Al Shami responded to him, saying that the US should cease interfering in Lebanon's affairs, while he summoned the U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly to a meeting with a "key undecided lawmaker" Nicolas Fattouch. The embassy named the meeting "a part of routine meetings with personalities from across Lebanon's political spectrum."

On 30 June 2011, the STL issued four arrest warrants based on the indictment reviewed by Fransen. The warrants were submitted to the Lebanese authorities, but the accused were not publicly identified by the tribunal itself. However, according to the Lebanese media and the Interior Minister of Lebanon, the warrants were issued for Hezbollah members Mustafa Badr al-Din, Salim al-Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hassan Unaisi. On 3 July, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah rejected the indictment and vowed that the accused individuals would not be arrested under any circumstances by any government. Nasrallah also denounced the tribunal as a foreign plot against his party, while calming down fears of internal strifes or civil war, assuring that the country's new government would ensure stability.

The Lebanese authorities had 30 days, up to 30 July 2011, to arrest the individuals named in the warrants. If the individuals were not arrested within 30 days, and the tribunal president saw that reasonable attempts to serve the indictment had been made, a public advertisement was to be issued in the media.