Elise
Knutsen BEIRUT: Testifying at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Thursday, former
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denied any direct involvement in the arrest and subsequent release of
four Lebanese generals who were charged in 2005 in connection to Rafik Hariri’s
assassination.
The generals were arrested amid a fierce campaign by March
14 officials who accused them of involvement in the blast, which killed Hariri and 21 others in
February 2005.
Siniora, who was prime minister at the time the generals
were detained, said that he was informed by the judiciary when the decision had been made, brushing
off rumors that he had consulted with foreign officials before signing off on the arrests in late
August 2005.
On the morning of Aug. 30, 2005, Siniora says he was visited
by a United Nations investigator and by the Lebanese prosecutor in charge of the file. It was only
that morning, Siniora told the court, that he learned that the generals would be arrested and their
houses searched.
The generals remained in prison for four years without
charges. A United Nations working group deemed the detention of two of the generals “arbitrary.”
Almost immediately after The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was opened in 2009, judges ordered the
release of Jamil al-Sayyed, Raymond Azar, Ali al-Hajj and Mustafa Hamdan as there was “no cause to
hold them.”
Siniora told the court that he had made no effort to interfere
with the release of the generals and that the Lebanese judiciary had acted free from political
influence. The generals “remained behind bars until a decision was made to release them,” Siniora
told the court. “If the Lebanese judiciary thought ... it was necessary to release the generals
prior to when they were released, they would have done so.”
Defense
attorney Antoine Korkmaz, who represents Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, cited a leaked
American diplomatic cable detailing a meeting between Charles Rizk, the justice minister in
Siniora’s government, and then-U.S. Ambassador Jeffery Feltman.
Rizk,
according to the cable, spoke to Feltman about the legal maneuvering required to deflect blame from
Siniora’s government should the generals be released. Their release, Rizk said, would have a
“chilling effect” on the March 14 movement.
Siniora told the court that he
“was not aware of that meeting.”
When pressed by Korkmaz on how he could
have been ignorant of a meeting between a member of his own Cabinet and a high-ranking diplomat,
Siniora scoffed.
“Do you think that we live in a totalitarian regime and no
one can breathe without taking the approval of the prime minister?”
Siniora
did not complete his testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and will be called back to
The Hague at a later date.
The Trial Chamber will resume on April
9. Siniora to STL: Hariri crime scene tampered with
Mar. 25, 2015 | 06:00 PM (Last updated: March 26, 2015 | 04:30 AM) BEIRUT: Sensitive security information was kept from prime ministers serving under President Emile Lahoud, Fouad Sinoira told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Wednesday. Moreover, Siniora accused the Syrian-Lebanese “security apparatus” of tampering with crime scene immediately after Hariri’s assassination.
While “in principle” the prime minister should have access to all documents related to state security, “in practice from time to time we would notice that there was information that was being withheld from the prime minister,” Siniora told the court.
Rafik Hariri was “shocked” to learn that his phones were being tapped by the security services, Siniora told the court.
After he became prime minister in 2005, Siniora had suspicions that information was bypassing his office. “I cannot confirm that I was getting all of the information that could have come out of the intelligence directorate or from General Security.”
The defense suggested that a number of members of the Lebanese-Syrian security apparatus had a privileged relationship with President Lahoud which bucked the chain of command.
Members of the security apparatus, Siniora said, “bullied" Lebanese politicians and the judiciary and "violated the dignities and freedoms" of Lebanese citizens.
Four Lebanese generals who were arrested in connection to Hariri’s slaying, but who were later released, have featured prominently in the defense’s line of questioning over the past few days. Jamil al-Sayyed, Ali al-Hajj, Raymond Azar, and Mustapha Hamdan, the defense suggested, were important players in the Lebanese-Syrian security apparatus.
Al-Hajj, who headed the Internal Security Forces at the time of Hariri’s assassination, would have been responsible for securing the crime scene after the blast which killed Hariri and 21 others in February 2005.
During the proceedings, Siniora accused security services of tampering with the crime scene. “The security apparatus manipulated the site of the blast on the day Prime Minister Hariri was assassinated,” told the court.
He stopped short, however, of blaming Al-Hajj. “Would the person in charge [of the crime scene] have allowed this tampering to happen?” Siniora asked rhetorically. “Maybe it was him,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I don’t know.”
Five Hezbollah members stand accused of plotting Hariri’s assassination and the ensuing cover-up. While lawyers for the Hezbollah suspects, who are being tried in absentia, are not expected to mount their defense until next year when the prosecution finishes presenting evidence, glimpses of their apparent strategy have been seen recently.
Over the past two weeks, the defense has hinted that Lahoud and his “clique” in the Lebanese-Syrian security apparatus may have had motive to kill Hariri. Various members of the defense have asked witnesses questions framed to cast suspicion on Lahoud.
“President Lahoud was a very well protected president,” said David Young, who represented the interests of Hezbollah member Assad Hassan Sabra. Young then asked Siniora if he knew that Lahoud was protected by 3,000 members of the Presidential Guard.
“I don’t know the exact number,” Siniora said.
“Can you give any evidence about the fact that the Presidential Guard had an engineering unit compromised of 15 to 20 explosives experts?” Young continued.
“It is not in my nature, not in the public interest, that I should interfere in such matters,” retorted Siniora.
Siniora struck a conciliatory tone in court Wednesday, one day after making the shocking revelation that Hariri had discovered Hezbollah plans to assassination him on “many” occasions.
“I am not in a position to point fingers at someone and say that Hezbollah is the one that committed this crime. And I cannot do that in any way,” Siniora said.
He balked, however, when pressed by Judge Nicola Lettieri on why Hariri had not report the assassination plots to the authorities.
“All I know is what I said to you," Siniora replied. | 
