Report: STL Defense Office Head Wants to ‘Crush’ Bellemare

Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense office Francois Roux is seeking the help of a prominent lawyer in the new majority to acquire substantial material that could help him in his task, As Safir newspaper reported on Monday.

“I want to crush (Prosecutor) Daniel Bellemare, just like the former World Bank manager did with New York’s prosecutor Cyrus Vance, after accusing him with a sex scandal,” Roux said, according to As Safir.

The lawyer told Roux that “some might not object meeting his request by providing him with the vital files.”

“The era of the prosecution has ended, it’s the defense era,” Roux allegedly said.

During a visit to Lebanon last week, he held several meetings to initiate the defense office’s task to defend the suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination.

“The defense office is ready to defend the four suspects based on the high, professional and objective standards,” Roux stressed.

As Safir reported that the lawyer told Roux that the suspects are ordinary members in Hizbullah, noting they are “resisting occupation.”

He advised Roux to get ready for “a trial in absentia,” reiterating that Hizbullah will not “hand over the suspects and (Hizbullah chief) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah means every word he says.”

“The suspects will not give any lawyer the right to defend them, whether the defense lawyer was assigned by the defense office in the STL or he was an independent… they will not accept to communicate with The Hague by video either,” the lawyer added.

The newspaper quoted the lawyer as saying that “Hizbullah isn’t ready to cooperate with the STL and the defense office, not today not tomorrow.”