A UN-backed tribunal into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in a huge suicide bombing on the Beirut seafront in 2005 will deliver its long-awaited verdict on August 7, the court announced on Friday.
Four suspects are on trial over Hariri’s murder. They are Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra, Hussein Oneissi and Hassan Habib Merhi.
The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) said it "issued a scheduling order today for the public pronouncement of the judgment" in the case against the suspects, who are being tried in absentia.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hearing "will be delivered from the courtroom with partial virtual participation", STL said in a statement.
The court has heard evidence from more than 300 witnesses and amassed 144,000 pages of evidence.
