The chief prosecutor for the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has slammed Canadian broadcaster CBC for airing a report linking Hezbollah to the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Prosecutor Daniel Bellemere said on Tuesday that he was "extremely disappointed" with the CBC report which, according to him, came at a time when he was "working flat out to ensure that a draft indictment is submitted to the pre-trial judge for confirmation in the near future."
"The most serious impact of the CBC report is that the broadcast may put people's lives in jeopardy," he said in a statement without commenting on the accuracy of the claims made by CBC in its report.
Criticizing the CBC for airing the report, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri told reporters in Beirut that he personally thought such media leaks "do not serve the course of justice."
The developments came a day after CBC News reported citing inquiry sources and documents that the evidence collected by the Lebanese police and later by U.N.-backed investigators "points overwhelmingly to the fact that" Rafik Hariri's assassins were from Hezbollah.
The CBC claimed that it had obtained copies of mobile phone and other communications connected to the case. The Hezbollah is yet to comment on the CBC report.
Meanwhile, the United Nations declined to comment on the exclusive CBC News story about the Hariri murder and expressed concern that leaks on the assassination could influence the STL's work on the 2005 bomb blast.
Separately, several unconfirmed news reports suggested that the STL was close to indicting eight Hezbollah members for their involvement in the Hariri murder.
The developments have triggered fears of fresh violence in Lebanon, as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that he will not allow the arrest of any of the group's members in connection with Hariri's assassination.
Lebanon was on the verge of a civil war in May 2008 after a political crisis unleashed street fighting between supporters of Hezbollah and those of a pro-Western Sunni group led by Rafik's son and current Prime Minister Saad Hariri. That conflict was averted with the formation of a unity government involving the political wing of the Hezbollah.
Though Hezbollah has consistently denied any involvement in Hariri's assassination and dismissed the U.N. tribunal as an "Israeli project," Saad Hariri has pledged to see the U.N.-backed investigation through.
Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed in a bomb blast in Beirut in February 2005. Though no one has yet been charged for his assassination, the case is currently the subject of a United Nations inquiry, which was launched after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) found that the Lebanese investigation had serious flaws.
The STL is a special court set up to investigate a series of attacks in Lebanon, including the assassination of Rafik Hariri. It was established in line with a 2007 UNSC resolution at Lebanon's request. It was formally opened at Leidschendam, near The Hague, in March, 2009.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.