STL Appeals Chamber sentenced Hassan Habib Merhi & Hussein Hassan Oneissi to life imprisonment for the Terrorist Attack that killed former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri

Leidschendam- Today June 16th, 2022, the Appeals Chamber unanimously sentenced to life imprisonment Messrs Merhi and Oneissi for each count on which they had found them guilty. These counts are:

Conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act (count 1);

Being an accomplice to the felony of committing a terrorist act (count 6);

Being an accomplice to the felony of intentional homicide (count 7 and 8) and;

Being an accomplice to the felony of attempted intentional homicide (count 9).

The Appeals Chamber ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.

“Today we witnessed the completion of these proceedings against Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi et Hussein Hassan Oneissi, the three convicted persons for their heinous acts in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which caused incredible pain and suffering to the many victims and their families. Their efforts to deceive the public, shield themselves from justice and to remain unaccountable has failed. Today they were sentenced for their crimes”, said Prosecutor Norman Farrell from Canada.

Prosecutor Farrell added that “It must be remembered that this is not the final step towards accountability. Justice demands that they be arrested. I call on those shielding the three convicted persons from justice to surrender them to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and on the international community to take whatever steps are available to assist in their arrest.”

On 11 December 2020, Salim Jamil Ayyash was sentenced to five concurrent sentences of life imprisonment by the STL Trial Chamber.

On 10 March 2022, the Appeals Chamber concluded in addition to convicting Merhi and Oneissi, that a network of phones, labelled by the Prosecution as the “Green Network”, was used to coordinate the attack. Merhi and Ayyash, both convicted by the Tribunal, were members of the Green Network. It also concluded that this network was coordinated by Mustapha Amin Badreddine, who was found to be a Hezbollah Military Commander during 2004 and 2005, and who was reportedly killed in Syria in 2016.

Prosecutor Farrell noted that “The details of the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri have been told to the Lebanese people through the presentation of compelling, credible evidence. This result could not have been achieved without the courageous victims and witnesses who presented their evidence during a fair and independent judicial process”.

Finally, Prosecutor Farrell stated that “I wish to thank the staff of my Office for their hard work, and specifically I would like to express my thanks to the Deputy Prosecutor who approached this work with independence and determination, in the search for the truth.”