The four have repeatedly asked to be released. As recently as Feb. 28, Say-yed’s attorney, Akram Azouri, renewed his call for the release of his client “for the sake of the reputation of Lebanon’s judicial system.”
He said that the Lebanese judiciary jurisdiction “remains in effect” until the STL’s chief prosecutor Bellemare, “lays hands on the case.”
But two brothers named Mahmoud and Ahmed Abdel Aal, and Syrian national Ibrahim Jarjura were released on Feb. 25. All three are civilians. They had been held since 2005 and 2006 respectively on suspicion of withholding information and misleading the IIIC. The Lebanese judicial authorities who made the decision refused to elaborate on the reasons behind their release.
Bellemare has declined to give any timeframe as to when he will press charges against the generals who continue to be held by the authorities. But he has said that he will soon file a “request to the Lebanese government to hand over all that is related to the tribunal, including the detainees,” and that any decision about whether to release the four generals will be left up to the tribunal.
The hand-off. Once the STL’s procedural rules become official, the office of the prosecutor has 60 days to apply to have the Lebanese authorities transfer suspects and evidence files to the Netherlands. According to Bellemare, “a re-quest would soon be finalized and sent to Lebanese authorities regarding the transfer of the four generals.”
He and Vincent stated that they don’t expect any fuss in handing over the arrested men, and Lebanese Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said that “by the end of April, it would be known whether the court prosecutor would request the transfer of the four generals to The Hague or not.”
Bellemare can then urge the tribunal to either free the four or keep them in custody. It they’re taken to the Netherlands, the generals will be immediately brought before the pretrial judge to identify themselves and then be sent to prison, Bellemare says. Although the STL has no courtroom yet, it is slated to be housed in a converted gymnasium at the former headquarters of Dutch intelligence in November. In the meantime, Vincent says the STL already has a separate wing of holding cells at the Dutch prison at Scheveningen, which “is operational, staffed and ready to receive anyone we get.”
It’s widely expected that the four generals will almost immediately petition the court to either charge or release them. The pretrial judge is to make that decision based the IIIC’s findings on their cases. It’s likely that in accordance with international legal standards, the generals won’t remain in custody without charge. The case could also collapse if the pretrial judge decides there is not enough evidence for a trial.
That may be what at least one of the generals is expecting. In a letter published in the As-Safir newspaper, Sayyed wrote that he had been hoping to be transferred to The Hague “for a long time.” Sayyed sees himself as a political hostage in Lebanon and hopes he and his fellow detainees will “overcome this period and be able to come out of it with our heads held high.” His equally optimistic lawyer told Agence France Presse that, “if they are not freed [by Lebanon], their release [by the tribunal] will be imminent after March 1, I’m convinced of it,” he says.

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