Former Lebanese PM Saniora urges Hezbollah to hand over convicts accused in Hariri’s assassination
March 12, 2022, 8:47 am

Former Lebanese PM Saniora urges Hezbollah to hand over convicts accused in Hariri’s assassination

Lebanese former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora (File photo: MTV Lebanon News)

The Asharq Al-Awsat reported, Lebanese former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora asked on Friday Hezbollah to immediately hand over two Hezbollah members convicted this week on charges of terrorism and murder for their role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

On Thursday, the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) appeals chamber overturned the acquittals of two members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group in the 2005 assassination of Hariri.

On Friday, Saniora praised the STL’s new verdict.

The former PM said in a statement: “This development is proof that we were right to resort to the STL to try the criminals behind this heinous crime, as it becomes certain each day that Lebanon’s judiciary is unable to investigate several crimes, the latest of which is the flagrant inability to make any progress in probing the crime of the Beirut port blast."

He said that the STL’s verdict reveals Hezbollah’s involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri and exposes the falseness of the party’s allegations and practices against Lebanon and the Lebanese.

Hezbollah leader (File photo: Facebook page)

He stressed: “The verdict obligates Hezbollah to hand over the criminals without any delay."

The five-judge appeals panel at STL convicted Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi of five charges linked to the assassination, including conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and being accomplices to intentional homicide.

Ayyash and the two new Hezbollah convicts have been tried in absentia and remain at large.

UN tribunal: Two Hezbollah members guilty on appeal for Rafik Hariri killing

It should be noted that former PM Saad Hariri, the son of the slain premier, also demanded that Hezbollah hands the convicts over when the verdict was announced, accusing the party of “covering up” the crime and “protecting criminals.”

Source: aawsat

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