STL president sets Feb 7 as date for public hearing

Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL ) President Cassese has set Feb. 7 as the date for a public hearing between pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen and the Appeals Chamber.

Fransen will reportedly discuss with the chamber preliminary legal questions he deems necessary in order to examine and rule on the indictment.

This press release was issued by STL for Media accreditation for the Appeals Chamber hearing:

The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has issued a scheduling order for a hearing at 9:00AM (local time in The Hague) on 7th February 2011. For the full details about the Appeals Chamber hearing please see the scheduling order.

Accreditation is required for all media representatives who wish to enter the Tribunal building. To obtain accreditation, please fill out the accreditation form on our website, no later than Thursday 3rd February 2011 at 5:30PM (CET).

The STL accreditation e-mail address is stl-accreditation@un.org

The STL press office will send out letters of accreditation to journalists by the end of Friday 4th February..

Please note that access to the Tribunal building will be denied to media representatives without proper accreditation.

Accredited media representatives are asked to use the public entrance to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon located on Dokter Van der Stamstraat 1 in Leidschendam and to arrive no later than 8:30AM on Monday 7th February. Please ensure that you bring your passport, your press card and a print-out of the official STL confirmation of your accreditation, which will be emailed to you by Friday 4th February.

No mobile phones, cameras or recording equipment will be allowed inside the Courtroom or the public gallery.

Audio-visual Broadcast

The hearing will be held in open session unless ordered otherwise. In line with the practice of international courts, the proceedings can be followed with a 30-minute delay in several ways:

• through a link provided on the STL website

• at the external Satellite News Gathering (SNG) point, and

• in the Media Centre.

The hearing can be followed in English, French or Arabic.

Media Centre

The Court’s Media Centre will be open from 8AM on the day of the hearing. It will be closed one hour after the hearing ends.

The Media Centre is equipped with the following facilities:

TV screens on which the hearing will be broadcast with a 30-minute delay;

Wi-Fi internet access (access information will be provided at the Tribunal’s reception);

Recording facilities: the Court will provide a feed from the Courtroom to the hot-desk area of the Media Centre. The tables in the Media Centre contain plugs for video and audio feeds from the courtroom (4:3, PAL, Standard Definition): BNC video output and XLR audio output. You can record from four possible audio channels: 1 – floor, 2 – French, 3 – English, 4 – Arabic. Each table contains audio and video sockets and power plugs using European sockets with 230 Volts AC. Please note that the Tribunal does not provide computers, fax machines or external phone connections.

Feed for the Satellite News Gathering Trucks

An outside hook-up point will be provided to allow SNG equipment to be connected. Feeds will be available in 4:3, PAL, Standard Definition. Connections will be BNC video output and XLR audio output with four possible audio channels: 1 – floor, 2 – French, 3 – English, 4 – Arabic. Please note that there is no power supply available. There is also no audio/video connectivity between the press briefing room and the outside hook-up point.

Photography

Please note that it will not be possible to take photos in the courtroom. Pre-session photographs will be provided through a media pool. Details will be provided in due course.