An appellate tribunal backed by the United Nations (UN) on Thursday (March 10) found two Hezbollah elements guilty in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Hezbollah, which receives orders, support, funding and arms from Iran and the Iranian terrorist designated Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), has carried out countless acts of terror and undermined the state of Lebanon at the behest of Tehran for decades.
The tribunal was set up in 2009 to try those responsible for the February 14, 2005, suicide truck bombing in downtown Beirut that killed Lebanese PM al-Hariri and 21 others, and wounded a further 226.
The court convicted Hezbollah element Salim Ayyash, a senior operative in Hezbollah’s Unit 121, an assassinations squad that takes orders directly from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
But it acquitted Hassan Habib Merhi, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra, saying there was not enough evidence to prove their involvement.
Appeals judges, however, granted an appeal by prosecutors, who asked them to overturn the acquittals of Merhi and Oneissi.
“The appeals chamber has unanimously decided to reverse the acquittals of Misters Merhi and Oneissi. We unanimously find Mr. Merhi and Oneissi guilty,” presiding judge Ivana Hrdlickova said.
The case against all four men relied almost exclusively on circumstantial evidence in the form of mobile phone records that prosecutors said showed a Hezbollah cell plotting the attack.
Nasrallah has refused to hand over any of the suspects or to recognize the UN-backed court, which has issued an international warrant for the arrest of Ayyash.
The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the location or identification of Ayyash.
Source » iranbriefing