Fransen Says Unauthorized Disclosure of Indictment, Supporting Materials Subject to Legal Prosecution

The unauthorized disclosure of the confidential indictment in the Hariri murder and its supporting materials is a legal violation that is subject to legal prosecution, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has stressed.

In his "order on the prosecutor's urgent motions for non-disclosure," Fransen notes "that the two types of conduct of concern to the Prosecutor – the unauthorized disclosure of the indictment or its supporting materials and the unauthorized disclosure of identities of witnesses included in the supporting materials – could be considered as interference with the Tribunal's administration of justice amounting to contempt of the Tribunal in violation of Rule 60 bis (A)."

On Monday STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare submitted a sealed indictment in the murder case of ex-PM Rafik Hariri to Fransen for confirmation, which included "an urgent motion for the non-disclosure of the indictment (Rule 74)' and an 'urgent motion for an order for interim non-disclosure of the identities of witnesses pending the implementation of appropriate witness protection measures (Rules 77 and 115.)'"

"In both motions, the Prosecutor provides his reasons for his respective requests: 'so that unauthorized disclosure can be considered contempt of the Tribunal under Rule 60 bis (A) (iii)," Fransen's order went on to say.

Responding to Bellemare's motions, the pre-trial judge concluded that the unauthorized disclosure of the confidential indictment, together with its supporting materials which include witness identities, "could constitute interference with the Tribunal's administration of justice amounting to contempt pursuant to Rule 60 bis of the Rules."

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