Judicial Police, Not Security Forces, to Conduct ‘Secret’ Search for Hariri Murder Suspects
General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza has referred the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to the central judicial department, to which he instructed the course of action to be taken in implementing the warrants.
He refused to uncover the specific measures he adopted, telling As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday that these steps cannot be revealed.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied that his ministry had received anything related to the warrants, saying that this matter is restricted to the general prosecutor.
An Nahar daily reported on Saturday that should the four suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri be confirmed as Hizbullah members, then they will be informed of the warrants according to the official procedures, which call for them to be handed the warrants in their place of residence.
The judicial police would be charged with this mission in an effort to keep the Internal Security Forces away from the political dispute linked to the tribunal and its indictment.
A security source revealed to the daily that the judicial police would head to the suspects’ towns of residence, asking the mayors for information on the location of their homes.
Should the suspects be unavailable, then the concerned authorities would be informed of the police’s inability to implement the warrant.
Observers said that this measure would allow Lebanon to avoid being accused of not committing to its responsibilities to the STL.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/9546 |