STL indictment may be announced between July 2-4

MTV reported on Friday that the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) may be announced anytime between July 2nd and July 4th.

In May, STL prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, filed an amended indictment based on further evidence in former PM Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

The new amended indictment “replaces the indictment of 11 March 2011, to include substantive new elements unavailable until recently,” the office of the prosecutor said.

The indictment, which is being kept confidential, has to be examined by pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen, who has the responsibility of confirming it before any arrest warrants or summonses are issued.

According to reports the STL indictment will be issued before the Lebanese cabinet’s policy statement is announced or prior to the parliament’s vote of confidence.

The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005.