International Media Forum’s 1st Day in The Hague: Indictment to Be Issued Soon, Bellemare’s Office Explained Its Content, Characteristics –

International Criminal Court in the Dutch city of The Hague

ED Note: This is definitely a “wait and see.”

Such a controversial assassination, with so many contenders for guilt, many or all of whom had motive, means and opportunity, make it difficult or impossible to say who might have done it or expect to see the truth of the matter…

We shall just have to wait and see what comes out in the “evidence”

I suspect we are going to see a helluva lot more speculation and argument, than hard evidence.

BEIRUT — Naharnet Special Report – The Hague: The first day of the International Media Forum organized by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) at its headquarters in the Dutch city of The Hague was characterized by the impression the participating journalists had after eight hours of seminars — the indictment in the investigation into the murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and his companions is likely to be issued soon.

Daniel Bellemare - The prosecutor in the investigation

Despite the fact that the meetings, lectures and seminars were dedicated to the legal and technical aspects that govern the work of the STL (Speical Tribunal of Lebanon), the participants’ attention was drawn to a presentation about the anticipated indictment made by the head of the Prosecution Division of the Office of the Prosecutor.

He elaborately explained the indictment’s characteristics in a manner signifying that its issuance has become imminent.

The participants at the International Media Forum in The Hague believe that the aforementioned presentation reflected the main points of the indictment’s content, despite the fact that it was focused on the indictment’s structure and apart from the details related to events, names and other facts.

They note that it is almost impossible for anyone to give such specifications without the other details being ready and almost finalized in terms of formulation.

The highlights of the presentation made by STL Prosecutor Danielle Bellemare’s aide about the indictment include:

• 1. It will be different than indictments usually issued by Lebanon’s investigative judges.

• 2. It will include detailed and extensive explanations regarding the crime’s stages and modus operandi.

• 3. It will surpass in terms of facts and explanations the indictment issued regarding war crimes investigated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

• 4. It will be based on a mixture of both circumstantial and material evidences.

• 5. It will not include a lot of legal theorems since the judges are proficient in such cases and they do not need someone to explain for them.

• 6. It will be limited to the murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and his companions on February 14, 2005, while indictments in other crimes that the investigation may unveil their links to the Hariri murder will be left to a later stage.

What supports the belief that the indictment is looming on the horizon is the fact that several STL officials announced in many appearances during the first day of the IMF that Bellemare had started since some time to put Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen in the picture of some of the data, evidences, facts and documents he will base his indictment on.

Thus, Fransen would not need much time to verify Bellemare’s indictment as a preliminary step toward starting the trials.