LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands: Appeals judges at an international tribunal sentenced two members of the militant Hezbollah group to life imprisonment Thursday for their roles in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the deaths of 21 other people in 2005.
Neither of the convicted men, Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi, has been arrested and sent to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Netherlands. They were tried in their absence and remain at large.
Merhi and Oneissi were convicted on appeal in March of five crimes, including being accomplices to the intentional homicide of Hariri and the 21 others. They all were killed when plotters detonated a huge truck bomb outside a hotel on Beirut’s seafront as Hariri’s motorcade drove past.
The blast wounded another 226 people and plunged Lebanon deeper into political turmoil.
During a hearing Thursday, the tribunal’s president, Czech judge Ivana Hrdličková, said Merhi and Oneissi were receiving life sentences for each of their five convictions. If they are ever captured and imprisoned, the sentences would be served concurrently.
Prosecutors appealed after the two men were acquitted nearly two years ago following a lengthy trial that found another Hezbollah member, Salim Ayyash, guilty of involvement in the Feb. 14, 2005, blast. Ayyash, who also was tried in absentia, received a life prison sentence.
The tribunal’s 2020 verdict was met with anger and disappointment in parts of Lebanon. The trial judges said there was no evidence that Hezbollah’s leadership and Syria were involved in the attack but noted the assassination happened as Hariri and his political allies were discussing calling for Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
Hezbollah members get life terms for Lebanese leader’s death
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Hezbollah members get life terms for Lebanese leader’s death
- Neither of the convicted men, Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi, has been arrested and sent to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Netherlands
- Merhi and Oneissi were convicted on appeal in March of five crimes
Australia rejects report it is repatriating families of Daesh militants from Syrian camp
- The return of relatives of suspected Daesh militants is a political issue in Australia, which has seen a surge in popularity of the right-wing
Australia’s center-left government on Sunday rejected a local media report that said it was working to repatriate Australians in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected Daesh militants. The 34 women and children were released on Monday from the camp in northern Syria, but returned to the detention center due to technical reasons. The group is expected to travel to Damascus before eventually returning to Australia, despite objections from ruling and opposition lawmakers.
On Sunday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected claims made in a report in the Sunday Telegraph, asserting that official preparations were under way for the cohort’s return.
“In that report, it makes a claim that we are conducting a repatriation. We are not,” Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.
“It claims we have been meeting with the states for the purposes of a repatriation. We have not,” Burke added. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who leads Australia’s Labour Party, said this week his government would not help the group return to Australia.
The return of relatives of suspected Daesh militants is a political issue in Australia, which has seen a surge in popularity of the right-wing, anti-immigration One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson.
Daesh, the Sunni Muslim militant group, is listed as a terrorist organization in Australia, with membership of the group punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Australia also has the power to strip dual nationals of citizenship if they are a Daesh member.
