STL

Bulletin
December 2015
The STL Bulletin provides a monthly overview of the latest developments, news and visits to the Special Tribunal
for Lebanon. It is not a judicial document with legal authority. It is one of a number of public information
documents produced by the Tribunal. You can view them all at http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/news-and-press.

Judicial developments
The Prosecutor v. Ayyash et al. (STL-11-01)1
On 1 December, protected witness PRH 416 testified before the Trial Chamber. The witness worked
as a bodyguard for someone he knew as Sami Issa
throughout his employment until late January 2005.
The Prosecution claims that Sami Issa was an alias for
the Accused Mustafa Amine Badreddine.

cars, which were different than the cars the bodyguards

drove.

The Prosecution asked the witness about his background and where he worked before he met Mr Issa,
the job interview he had with him, as well as about
the kind of work he did when he was hired. The
witness confirmed that Mr Issa owned three jewelry
shops called Samino. He also said that he used to work
six days a week and that there were four bodyguards
including himself, accompanying Mr Issa. The Prosecution asked the witness about the various locations he
encountered in his duties, including the pick-up and
drop-off points of the cars he drove, and where he met
him on some occasions. He was also asked about the
cars Mr Issa had. He said that he saw him driving six

The witness was asked to identify certain phone

numbers associated with particular names that he was
in contact with in 2004 and 2005. He was also asked
about Mr Mohammed Chaker, the manager of Samino
jewelry shops, and whose mobile phone number is
among those numbers. The witness said that sometimes he used to see Mr Chaker on a daily basis and
other times he would communicate with him only by
phone. The witness was then shown in court a photo
of someone he confirmed to be Mr Chaker. He also
confirmed his own number during the period between
September 2004 and January 2005.

This section provides an overview of courtroom hearings in the Ayyash

et al. case only. All the public filings in this case are available on our
website: http://www.stl-tsl.org/en/the-cases/stl-11-01/filings

All public transcripts in the Ayyash et al. case are available

on our website in Arabic, English and French.

The witness was additionally asked about different locations that he had identified earlier on a Zawarib Atlas
map when he met with Prosecution investigators. One

www.stl-tsl.org
Dokter van der Stamstraat 1, 2265 BC Leidschendam, Netherlands PO Box 115, 2260 AC Leidschendam, Netherlands.
For more information please contact the Public Information and Communications Section: stl-pressoffice@un.org Tel : +31 (0) 70 800 3560 / 3828 and +961 4 538 100 (Beirut)
www.twitter.com/stlebanon www.facebook.com/stlebanon www.youtube.com/stlebanon www.flickr.com/stlebanon

of these locations is an underground parking lot that

he marked on map, where the bodyguards used to pick
up and park Mr Issas cars that they drove according to
the witness. He was also asked about another parking
lot in a commercial center where he used to only pick
up the cars. The witness said that he would use the car
that Mr Issa instructed him to take and that he would
usually come to find the cars washed and filled with
gas. The third location was an area close to Samino
jewelry shop in Furn-El-Chebbak. The witness said
that he would wait there while Mr Issa was in the shop.

On 3 December, the Prosecution continued to

examine PRH 416. The witness was shown two photographs of a person, which he identified to be of Mr
Issa. The witness confirmed that the first photo is how
Mr Issa looked like when he knew him from 2002
until January 2005, and the second one he said had
the same shape of face and features like Mr Issa.
Defence Counsel for Mr Badreddine cross-examined
the witness. He was asked questions that explored his
recollection of certain events. He was questioned about
the age of Mr Issa when he was working for him. The
witness confirmed what he said in his witness statement that while he was working for him, Mr Issa was
between 33 and 36 years old.

On 2 December, protected witness PRH 416

continued to testify before the Trial Chamber. The
Prosecution asked the witness whether he and his
colleagues had permits from the Lebanese authorities
for the weapons they carried. The witness confirmed
that they did and it was Mr Issa who arranged them.
The witness also added that he never saw Mr Issa
carrying a gun, but when he started working for him
he showed him a guns permit.

Additionally, the witness was asked questions about

Mr Issas family. He confirmed that he did not know
them, and that he did not know where Mr Issa lived in
Beirut. He was also asked about Mr Issas behavior, his
girlfriends and his cars.
The witness also spoke about the management of the
jewelry shops, saying Mr Chaker was managing the
shops in constant coordination with Mr Issa. The
witness was also asked about Mr Issas confession and
accent, which he confirmed as a Shiite Muslim and
had a southern Lebanese accent.

The Prosecution asked the witness about a set of phone

calls he made and received in September 2004. He was
also questioned about how often he went to Jounieh.
He said he used to go there regularly with Mr Issa,
almost daily or at least three times a week and that
sometimes the witness went there to meet his girlfriend. In addition PRH 416 was asked about Mr Issas
habits when he accompanied him to public places.
He said that sometimes he would enter these locations normally and other times he would be keen not
to be recognised. The Prosecution also asked if there
was anything physically distinctive about Mr Issa. The
witness said that he had a problem in his right knee
that made him limp.

The witness stated he started his work with Mr Issa in

the summer of 2002, that he was interviewed at the
shop, and that he started working as a security guard
for Mr Issa at the Mar-Elias branch. A month and
a half later he started working as his bodyguard. He
said he did not have Mr Issas number until four to
six months into his employment, and that he used to
contact Mr Chaker or someone else and then Mr Issa
would contact him.

The witness was also asked about a car accident Mr

Issa had while he and other body guards were accompanying him. He said that some Lebanese authorities
and a lieutenant-colonel from the Syrian intelligence
came to the accident scene. The witness was further
asked about Mr Issas cars and if he had ever fixed
license plates on them. He said that it depended on the
instructions; Mr Issa would usually tell the bodyguards
which license plate to fix on the escort vehicles and
on his vehicles, as he had many plates. He also added
that Mr Issa owned a Lebanese military intelligence
license plate which he would instruct the witness to
fix either on his car or the cars the bodyguards drove.
The witness explained that in the normal course of his
duties, the military license plate was always either on
his car or Mr Issas car.

On 4 December, Defence Counsel for Mr Badreddine

continued to cross-examine protected witness PRH
416. The witness was shown in court a document that
contained a list of telephone numbers that belonged
to employees who worked for Samino jewelry and was
asked about those people. He was also asked about
when he ended his employment with Mr Issa. He said
it was at the end of 2004, adding that he returned to
work with him and then resigned again in January
2005. The witness explained that he left his work
mainly because he did not receive health insurance and
he used to leave work very late every day.
The witness was also questioned about phone calls
and SMS messages exchanged between him and Mr
Issa after he stopped working for him. He explained

Document provided by the Public Information and Communications Section of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

that he faced a problem, and Mr Issa was calling him

asking if he needed help. When the witness was also
questioned about the last time he saw Mr Issa, he said it
was in 2006 or 2007. He was also questioned in more
detail about a photo of Mr Issa that was shown by the
Prosecution in court.

On 8 December, PRH 306 continued to testify before

the Trial Chamber. The witness was asked about how
Mr Issas jewelry shops operated. He also spoke about
his work during that period, saying that he was in charge
of the sales department in the Furn-El-Chebbak shop
when he started and then he moved from one shop to
the other whenever it was necessary. When asked about
Mr Issas bodyguards, he said that in the beginning Mr
Issa did not have any, and then he interviewed and
chose four who started accompanying him. The witness
also spoke about one time in late 2004, when someone
came to the Furn-El-Chebbak shop and asked for gold
coins, in which his colleague told him that he was the
brother of the former Head of the Syrian Intelligence
services in Lebanon, Brigadier-General Rustom Ghazaleh. PRH 306 added that back then Mr Issa said that
the brother of Mr Ghazaleh should not go to the FurnEl-Chebbak shop but to the Mar-Elias one, because he
was a customer there.

On 4 December, Ms Alia El-Arab testified before the

Trial Chamber via video link. The witness was asked
about the statement she gave on 9 September 2014. Ms
El-Arab is the daughter of Mr Yahya El-Arab, former
chief of security for the late Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri, who was killed as a result of the 14 February
2005 attack. In her statement she said that her father
also acted as an intermediary between the former Prime
Minister Hariri and the Syrian officials for a long time.
During the questioning by the Legal Representative of
Victims, Ms El-Arab was asked about her family and
the last time she saw her father. She was also asked
about her recollection of the events of 14 February
2005 and about what her family went through because
of her fathers death. She explained that the Tribunal
has been a great source of relief for the family.

He was also asked about the locations of the three

branches of the Samino jewelry shops. The witness said
that he remembered that the Bourj-Hammoud branch
was closed on 14 February 2005, the day of the assassination of the late Prime Minister Hariri and it was
never reopened after that. He added that he continued
to work in one of the other two shops for around a
month before he left in March 2005.

On 7 December, PRH 416 appeared again before the

Trial Chamber for cross-examination by the Defence
Counsel for Mr Badreddine. The witness was questioned about some of the answers he gave during his
examination-in-chief by the Prosecution. The Counsel
also asked the witness why during the Prosecutions
cross-examination he said that he did not work for
Mr Issa for a third period of time for three months in
2007. The witness explained that he was working in a
certain establishment during that period and he was
not able to remember the dates when he worked for
him so he said that he does not remember if he worked
for him or not.

The witness was further asked about Samino jewelry

sponsoring events, PRH 306 explained that they did
that as a sort of advertisement for their jewelry brand
but Mr Issa did not attend those events. He was asked
about the physical appearance of Mr Issa and his
habits, and was shown in court and asked about two
photos. The first photo was given to the Prosecution
by the witness during his interview. As for the second
one shown to him, it was attached to an application
form submitted to the Lebanese American University.
The witness said that the second photo looked like Mr
Issa, but it was not how he knew him, he explained
that he looked younger in the photo. The witness was
also asked about some of the SMS messages exchanged
between his phone number and Mr Issas number.

The Prosecution re-examined PRH 416. He was asked

whether Mr Issa communicated with anybody else
using the radio system and if he ever saw him use it to
communicate with his friends or casual acquaintances.
The witness responded in the negative, and explained
that Mr Issa would tell his bodyguards to avoid staying
on the same frequency, so they had to change the
frequency one to three times per week.

On 9 December, Defence Counsel for Mr Badreddine

cross-examined PRH 306. The witness was questioned
about some aspects of the evidence he gave during his
examination-in-chief by the Prosecution and about
some of the answers he gave to the Prosecution investigators during his witness interview. He was questioned about his job interview with Mr Issa, his work
with him, the setup of the three branches of Samino

On 7 December protected witness PRH 306 testified

before the Trial Chamber. The witness was an employee
of Mr Issa working in his jewelry shops for a number
of years. He said Mr Issa did not know much about
jewelry but was the person who made the decisions
regarding the business.

Document provided by the Public Information and Communications Section of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

jewelry, as well as about the events that Samino jewelry

sponsored.

as resembling Mr Issa. He was also shown a photograph of an allegedly younger Mustafa Badreddine,
whom he did not recognise.

The witness was further questioned about Mr Issa, his

appearance and confession. He was also asked about his
visit to Mr Issas apartment in Jounieh. He confirmed
that he visited him two to three times and saw what
was inside of his apartment but said he did not know
how long Mr Issa stayed there. The witness was also
questioned about the telephone numbers of his former
colleagues and bodyguards working for Mr Issa. He
explained that he wrote some of those numbers in a
phone directory and saved others on his mobile phone
or on his desktop. The witness was also shown in court
and questioned about two photos of a person he identified as Mr Issa during his examination-in-chief. The
witness stated that in the second photo, the person of
interest might be wearing a shirt that he gave Mr Issa
as a birthday gift.

On 14 December, Defence Counsel for Mr Badreddine cross-examined witness PRH 264. The witness
was questioned about his interview with the Prosecution and his witness statements of June 2011 and
January 2012. He was also asked about names in his
phone directory and about Mr Issa. The witness said
the last time he saw Mr Issa was on the street when
he was consoling the witness for his fathers death in
2010. He was also asked about the way Mr Issa walks
and if he wore eyeglasses. The witness explained that
Mr Issa used to wear a support for his knee and that
sometimes he saw him with glasses. He also added that
the majority of the time he would wear a baseball cap.
He was further asked about his relationship with Mr
Issa and about his jewelry stores. He said that Mr Issa
already owned the stores when he met him. In addition, the witness was questioned about a reservation he
made for Mr Issa for New Years Eve on 31 December
2009 in Lebanon. The witness explained that he was
not with Mr Issa and his friends, but only made the
reservation. He was then questioned about SMS
messages and phone calls exchanged between him and
Mr Issa on 14 and 15 February 2005. The witness said
that Mr Issa contacted him to check on him in light
of the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri and that
they discussed what happened during that day.

On 10 December, protected witness PRH 264 testified

before the Trial Chamber. The witness was asked about
specific phone numbers and persons that he identified
earlier in his interview with investigators. The witness
said that he has been working with a relative of late
Prime Minister Hariri from 2002 until present. He
assists him in different matters of his life and business,
and he used to go out with him and a group of friends
regularly. He was also asked about Mr Issa, who was
part of this group of friends, and his relationship with
him. He said that between 2004 and 2005, he was a
close friend of Mr Issa and their friendship remained
until 2010 after which they did not stay in contact
anymore. The witness was also asked about the places
they used to visit together in Lebanon.

On 15 December, protected witness PRH 089 testified before the Trial Chamber. During his examination-in-chief, the witness said that he met Mr Issa at
university in 2003, when they became friends. He said
that he left university in mid-2004 to 2005, but he still
used to see Mr Issa three to four times a week.

Prosecution asked the witness about the phone numbers

of Mr Issa saved on the witnesss phone as well as about
certain phone calls and SMS messages exchanged
between the two of them. The witness confirmed that
he also worked with Mr Issa in a promotional activity
in two events. He said that Mr Issa did not attend the
events, but he sent someone to represent him from his
jewelry shop.

The witness was examined about phone numbers, one

of which he said was the number of Mr Issa. He was
also questioned about certain phone calls and SMS
messages exchanged between them. PRH 089 was also
asked about the areas he went to with Mr Issa, about
his family, bodyguards and cars. He was further asked
about the machine gun he used to see in Mr Issas car.
The witness said that it was kept in a suitcase in the
cars front passenger seat on the floor. He also added
that he visited Mr Issas apartment in Jounieh several
times.

The witness was further asked about the sort of topics

he discussed with Mr Issa as a friend. He said that they
spoke mainly about general topics and what happened
on daily basis but never spoke about politics. He also
said that he went around five times to Mr Issas apartment in Jounieh and that it had little furniture and was
not well equipped. The witness was asked about Mr
Issas appearance and behavior when they went out and
was then shown a photo of someone who he identified

He was further asked about Mr Issas physical appearance. He said that the only distinctive feature was the
injury he had in his right leg. He added that Mr Issa
told him he was living with his family in the Emirates

Document provided by the Public Information and Communications Section of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

and then he had a car accident that caused his leg

injury. The witness was also shown a photo in court
which he said looked like Mr Issa but he could not
confirm it was him.

Defence Counsel for Mr Badreddine cross-examined

Ms Blanch. The witness was questioned about her
witness statement. She was also questioned about her
analysis of the content of SMS messages and phone calls
exchanged between Mr Issa and one of his employees.
She also spoke about two call sequence tables (CSTs),
one which incorporated all the calls of all numbers
attributed to Mr Issa and another one with the SMS
messages for a telephone number attributed to him.

On 16 December, Ms Nicole Blanch, an associate

analyst with the Prosecution, resumed her testimony
of 19 November before the Trial Chamber. The
witness spoke about the sequence of telephone calls on
a specific date made and received by telephone of a
numbers that the Prosecution attributes to Mr Issa.

In the case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Mr. Ibrahim Mohamed Ali Al Amin - STL-14-06
On 11 December, a pre-trial conference was held in the
case of STL-14-06. Prior to the conference, the Amicus
Curiae Prosecutor (Amicus) had filed nine motions: A
request for authorization to amend his witness list; a
request for postponement of trial; two applications for
protective measures; two addenda to the applications
for protective measures; a request for judicial notice;
a request for an addendum on an expert report; and
a request for authorisation to amend the indictment.

Accused to attend the proceedings, including an arrest

warrant, and requested that the current trial be recognised as a trial in absentia in order to allow the Accused
to benefit from the guarantees that flow from such
proceedings.
In a written decision, Judge Lettieri permitted the
Amicus Curiaes requested amendments to his witness
and exhibit lists. As a result, the Judge rescheduled the
trial start date to 24 February 2016 in order to provide
the Defence team with additional time to prepare in
light of these amendments. The Judge also ordered
that the Parties make their opening statements and the
Amicus Curiae Prosecutor present his case in chief from
24 to 26 February and on 29 February and 1 March
2016, as needed. The Contempt Judge will determine
the dates for the presentation of the Defences case, if
any, as soon as practicable, in consultation with the
parties. In separate decisions, the Judge rejected the
Amicus Curiaes requests for the postponement of trial
pending the Appeals Panel decision in the STL-14-05
case as well as the request to amend the Order in Lieu
of an Indictment.

During the pre-trial conference, Contempt Judge

Nicola Lettieri heard the submissions from both parties
on these motions. The Assigned Defence Counsel said
that he seeks the dismissal of all the requests made by
the Amicus and would not accept any postponement
of the trial, in the interest of the Accused. He added
that the Defence is ready to start the trial as per the
earlier scheduling orders without any amendment and
without the addition of any witnesses or documents.
The Amicus responded by saying that the sought additions do not alter the nature of the case, and that while
the Amicus is ready for the trial, a postponement until
the Appeals Panel in STL-14-05 rules on the appeal in
that case would be in the interest of the Tribunal.

The Contempt Judges reasoning for the decision to

reschedule, along with two other decisions he made on
18 December 2015, can be found here.

The Assigned Defence Counsel for Akhbar Beirut and

Mr Al Amin also opposed any request to compel the

News and Visits

On 7 December, the French Minister of Justice,
Christiane Taubira, paid a courtesy visit to the STL,
as part of her one-day visit to the Netherlands that
included discussions with Dutch officials. STL President Judge Ivana Hrdlikov, Prosecutor Norman

Farrell, the Head of the Defence Office Franois Roux,

and Deputy Registrar Amelie Zinzius, welcomed the
Minister and her delegation.

Document provided by the Public Information and Communications Section of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

From L to R: Head of Defence Office, French Minister of

Justice, STL President Judge, Deputy Registrar and Prosecutor.

Students from the University of Alcala, Spain, visiting the STL

On 11 December, the Registrar of the STL, Daryl

Mundis, concluded an official visit to Beirut, the last
for the year 2015. Mr Mundis met with key interlocutors in Lebanon, as well as representatives of the diplomatic community. He also met with STL staff in the
Beirut Office to thank them for their constant efforts.

During the month of December, the STL hosted a

group of 18 judges and legal officers from the Residual
Special Court for Sierra Leone as well as a group of
students from the University of Alcala, Spain.
You can book a visit for a group of at least 10 people by
filling in the online booking form no later than one month
prior to the proposed date of visit.

Current opportunities at the STL

Chief of Public Information and Communications
Section Registry/Public Information and Communications Section Grade: P-5; Deadline 14/02/2016.
Among other responsibilities, the incumbent will
manage the Public Information and Communications
Section and will be responsible for developing and
implementing communications strategies to effectively
present the Tribunal externally.

Interpreter-Translator Registry/Languages Services

Section - Grade: P-3; Deadline 06/02/2016. The
incumbent will provide consecutive and simultaneous
interpretation, at the duty station or on mission, from
English and Arabic into French.
Internships the STL accepts internship applications
for placement in the Chambers, Office of the Prosecutor, Defence Office, and Registry on a rolling basis
throughout the year.

www.stl-tsl.org
Dokter van der Stamstraat 1, 2265 BC Leidschendam, Netherlands PO Box 115, 2260 AC Leidschendam, Netherlands.
For more information please contact the Public Information and Communications Section: stl-pressoffice@un.org Tel : +31 (0) 70 800 3560 / 3828 and +961 4 538 100 (Beirut)
www.twitter.com/stlebanonwww.facebook.com/stlebanonwww.youtube.com/stlebanonwww.flickr.com/stlebanon