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Judicial developments in the

Ayyash et al. case

This case relates to the attack of 14 February 2005 in Beirut.

Trial Preparation:

Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen postponed

the start of trial in the case of Ayyash et al.,

in a decision issued on 21 February.

The Prosecution presented submissions on

trial preparation on 8 March, in accordance

with an order by Judge Fransen.

The Prosecution explains in this filing that it

is unable to suggest a specific date for the

start of trial, but estimates that a tentative

date could be set within the last quarter of

this year. By this time, the Defence will have

had a few months of preparation after

completion of disclosure, which is projected

for 17 June 2013, the Prosecution said.

The Defence argued in their joint submission

that proposing a tentative date for the start

of trial would be premature, saying that a

number of outstanding issues had yet to be

addressed. Some of these issues include

ongoing revisions to the list of witnesses

and exhibits, outstanding disclosure, and

delays to the Defence’s investigation.

The legal representative of the victims also

argued that setting a new tentative date

would be premature, but suggested the last

quarter of 2013 as a potential starting date.

A new tentative date could soon be set by

Judge Fransen, to replace 25 March 2013 as

a provisional date for the start of trial.

Annual Report:

The fourth annual report on the STL’s

activities was sent in the first week of March

to the UN Secretary-General and the

Lebanese Prime Minister. It is now available

on the Tribunal's website.

The President of the STL thanked the

Lebanese authorities for their cooperation,

but noted that "the eight years which have

elapsed since the attacks of which we are

seized make more urgent the task of

locating and detaining" the accused.

The release of the report marks the start of

the second year of the Tribunal's renewed

mandate. Over the past year, the Tribunal's

judges heard and dismissed challenges to

the STL's legality, and upheld the decision to

hold a trial in absentia for the 14 February

2005 attack – the first time an international

criminal court has allowed such proceedings

since the Nuremberg trials.

The Office of the Prosecutor said it was

focused on preparing for trial as well as

reviewing and investigating the three cases

STL Bulletin · March 2013

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connected to the 14 February 2005 attack

that are under the Tribunal's jurisdiction.

The report notes that the Office of the

Prosecutor will be ready for trial later in

2013. In addition, it will create a new team

dedicated to examining whether other

assassinations can be connected to the 14

February 2005 attack.

Supported by the Defence Office, lead and

co-counsel for the four accused worked to

understand the Prosecution's case and to

prepare their own. Defence lawyers

launched preliminary motions that

challenged the STL's legality, the decision to

try the accused in absentia, the decision

defining terrorism and the form of

the indictment.

The Registry focused on securing the

necessary financial resources, as well as

other cooperation arrangements required to

fulfil the Tribunal’s mandate. The Registry

continued to assist the Chambers, OTP and

the Defence Office in areas including

translation and interpretation,

administration, court management

information technology, security, press and

information and outreach.

The Tribunal is also close to completing the

hand-over of documents to Jamil El Sayyed,

one of the four generals arrested in

connection with the 14 February 2005

attack and released by the STL for lack of

evidence.

Please refer to http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/the-cases/stl-11-01/main, to access all filings in relation to the Ayyash et al. case.

News and visits

Emile Aoun

STL Defence attorney Emile Aoun has become the first Lebanese lawyer to be appointed to

the list of counsel of the International Criminal Court. He will continue to represent Salim

Ayyash at the STL.

Visits

In March, the STL welcomed groups of visitors from the United Arab Emirates, university

students from the Catholic University College of Bruges-Ostend, HELMo University College in

Liege, the University of Cambridge, a researcher from Kyushu International University in

Japan, and a group of interns from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former

Yugoslavia.

Visits to the Tribunal can be arranged for groups to provide an insight into the work of the

STL. Please fill in our online booking form to request a group visit.

STL links:

To access all STL filings, please refer to http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/filings-all-cases

For job vacancies, please refer to http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/jobs