Hezbollah member gets five life sentences for 2005 assassination of Rafik Al Hariri
The trial chamber is satisfied that it should impose the maximum sentence, says judge
Cairo: A UN-backed tribunal on Friday sentenced a convicted member of the Iran-allied Lebanese Hezbollah movement to five terms of life imprisonment for involvement in the assassination of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al Hariri more than 15 years ago.
In August, the Special Tribune for Lebanon based in the Netherlands convicted Salim Ayyash in absentia on five charges in connection with Al Hariri’s killing in a February 2005 bombing in Beirut. He was found guilty of homicide and perpetrating a terrorist act.
Lack of evidence
At the time, the court acquitted three other defendants due to a lack of evidence.
“The trial chamber is satisfied that it should impose the maximum sentence for each of the five crimes of life imprisonment, to be served concurrently,” Presiding Judge David Re Re said, according to Reuters.
The court issued a new arrest warrant for Ayyash who is still at large.
The 2005 bombing killed 21 others along with Al Hariri. Hezbollah has not recognised the tribunal and its decisions.