STL Pre-Trial Judge to decide on Sayyed’s request

The Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen will now be able to decide on the merits of the request by former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed to access to documents pertaining to his detention by the Lebanese authorities.

This comes after the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) issued a unanimous opinion Wednesday rejecting prosecutor Daniel Bellemare’s appeal of the recent decision by Fransen

According to an STL press release, “the Appeals Chamber also found that the STL has jurisdiction to consider Sayyed’s request and determined that Sayyed has legal grounds to bring this application before the Tribunal. “

In a related development STL President Antonio Cassese rejected Sayyed’s motion last Friday to disqualify Judges Ralph Riachi and Afif Shamseddine from the hearing on STL Prosecutor’s appeal.

Sayyed (along with 3 other generals) was detained from 2005 to 2009 on suspicion of involvement in former PM Rafik Hariri’s murder. In April 2009, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL ) ordered their release without charges due to insufficient evidence. STL prosecutor made it clear at the time they were set free that their release did not mean they are Innocent and that once more evidence is available they could be back in jail.