STL to hold jurisdiction hearing in June

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon's Trial Chamber has scheduled a hearing on June 13 to hear arguments on the jurisdiction of the Special Tribunal of Lebanon (STL) and the legality of its creation, the tribunal said in a statement on Monday. The STL, which is the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri, will hold sessions between June 13 and 14 to hear arguments from the prosecution, the defence counsel and the legal representatives of victims on the tribunal's jurisdiction and the legality of its creation. "The defence counsel for the four accused; Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra, in the case relating to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri filed motions in early May challenging the legality and jurisdiction of the STL." The STL will meet to hear arguments on the jurisdiction and legality of the establishment of the court, a step that will determine whether it can continue to operate. The defence counsel argued that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was unlawfully established and that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) abused its powers by adopting resolution 1757 (2007). They argued that the UNSC considered the attack of February 14, 2005 on Hariri's convoy a threat to international peace and security as a way to exercise its powers under Chapter VII of the  United Nations (UN) Charter, when the attack posed no such threat. They also submitted that the resolution violates the law on treaties and UN law and that it is unconstitutional under Lebanese law. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the participants to present their arguments following the recent response by the prosecution, and the observations of the legal representatives of victims, both filed on June 6.  This will be the first time that the recently appointed legal representatives of victims and the defense counsel speak in a public hearing at the STL. Hezbollah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra are wanted for the 2005 suicide car bomb attack in Beirut that killed former prime minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber.