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The explosion that killed Rafik Hariri left a scene of destruction in downtown Beirut
The long-awaited verdict is due to the trial of four men who were allegedly involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others in a bombing raid in 2005.
The suspects – suspected members of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah – were tried in absentia by a special tribunal in the Netherlands.
Envy in the attack in Beirut forced Hezbollah’s successor to withdraw his troops from Lebanon after 29 years.
Hezbollah and the Syrian government have denied any involvement in the attack.
More than 220 people were also injured when a van full of explosives exploded as Mr Hariri’s convoy ran along the corniche off the coast of Beirut.
The assassination was a waterless moment for Lebanon and gave rise to rival alliances that shaped Lebanese politics years later.
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Hariri, a billionaire businessman, had urged Syria to leave Lebanon
The son of Mr. Hariri, Saad, led the emerging anti-Syrian, pro-Western group, and served three terms as prime minister himself.
He is expected to appear before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is based in a village on the outskirts of The Hague, when the verdict is handed over on Tuesday.
The whereabouts of the four accused – Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra – are unknown.
None of them commented on the trial. But her judge-appointed defense attorneys dismissed the case of the prosecution, saying it relied on circumstantial evidence and did not prove they were guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
What is the case about?
On the morning of February 14, 2005, Rafik Hariri – then a Second Chamber member who voted against the opposition in parliament – was traveling in a motorcade past Beirut’s St George Hotel when a bomb exploded in a van.
The blast caused an enormous crater in the street, leaving nearby cars smoldering and shop fronts blown out and turned black.
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Hariri’s assassination sparked huge protests against the government in Beirut
Hariri was one of Lebanon’s most prominent Sunni politicians and had called for Syria to retake its troops, who had been in Lebanon since 1976 after the country’s civil war began. .
- Hariri: A dominant force in Lebanese politics
- Who are the men accused of killing Hariri?
The assassination took tens of thousands of protesters to the streets in protest against the pro-Syrian government, with the finger of blame for the murder of Lebanon’s heavily influential neighbor.
The government resigned two weeks later and Syria withdrew its forces in April.
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After gathering evidence, the UN and Lebanese governments set up the STL in 2007 to investigate the bombings, and four suspects were eventually put on trial in absentia on prosecutors who included conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
A fifth suspect, Hezbollah military commander Mustafa Amine Badreddine, was removed from the charge after he was assassinated in 2016 in Syria.
Hezbollah supporters have dismissed the lawsuit, saying the STL lawsuit is not politically neutral.
Why does the trial matter?
The four men put on trial, though not in absentia, were considered a historic moment for international justice and for Lebanon.
It demonstrated a willingness to hold criminals responsible for crimes in a country where patronage and protection might otherwise protect them from prosecution.
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Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed the trial as a conspiracy
However, there were deep divisions between those who supported having the trial and those who felt it was a political tool.
Hezbollah has promised not to hand over the four men if convicted.
It is the most powerful military power in the country next to the Lebanese army, and exercises broad influence over the carpenter government of Lebanon.
The end of the trial also comes at a time of deep crisis in Lebanon.
The country is still recovering from the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, which killed at least 180 people and injured more than 6,000 others.
Even before that, Lebanon was in deep economic trouble, with a currency collapse, rising inflation and spiraling unemployment that sparked massive protests.
Whatever the verdict is, fresh tensions are almost certain to follow.
