Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri will attend the long-awaited verdict of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the case of his father’s Feb. 2005 assassination, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.
MP Marwan Hamadeh, who has survived an attempted murder in October 2004, and family members of victims of the attack on ex-PM Rafik Hariri’s convoy on Beirut’s seafront will also attend the verdict at The Hague on Aug. 7.
Hamadeh’s presence will be highly significant because the STL determined that his attempted assassination, in addition to two separate attacks on Lebanese politicians George Hawi and Elias el-Murr are legally connected to Hariri’s murder.
The three cases are currently under investigation.
Four suspects are on trial in absentia over Hariri’s murder in a huge suicide bombing. They are Hezbollah members Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra, Hussein Oneissi and Hassan Habib Merhi.
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Saad Hariri will not make any statement on the case before the verdict is issued.
The court has heard evidence from more than 300 witnesses and amassed 144,000 pages of evidence.
After the verdict is issued, Hariri “will not resort to vengeance” because he differentiates between those who have committed the crime and the confession that they belong to.
Hariri is keen on preserving civil peace and on consolidating the national partnership.
