29/04/2009 Four years of political and arbitrary detention finally saw end!
 
The four officers, detained by the Lebanese judiciary over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's case upon the recommendation of former UN investigator Detlev Mehlis based on the fabricated testimonies of false witnesses, were finally freed but, this time, by the international judiciary…
 
Shortly after the announcement, people and politicians took to the streets and the officers' homes spontaneously to express their satisfaction and joy. The officers' lawyers were quick to welcome the ruling by The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) saying the court's pre-trial judge and the prosecutor had shown objectivity and fairness in their decision.
  
"After 44 months, justice has been done and it should have been 43 months ago," Naji Bustany, counsel for the former head of the presidential guard Mustafa Hamdan and the former military intelligence chief Raymond Azar, said.
"This is the result I was waiting for a long time ago," Hajj's lawyer Issam Karam said in turn. "I followed the case from the onset and there is nothing in the file that implicates the generals."
 
The decision was also immediately hailed by the national opposition that announced the day "a day of joy for the Lebanese," regretting that such decision be made by the international justice not the Lebanese one.
 
In this context, Hezbollah issued a statement in which it hailed the international tribunal's decision to release the officers after a long arbitrary decision imposed unfairly by the March 14 authority without any charges. Hezbollah recalled that the detention of the four officers brushed aside all laws and legal procedures and caused a status of attenuation and politicization of one of the most important authorities responsible for the maintenance of life and law in the country which is the judicial authority.
 
Hezbollah statement said that the release of the four officers in the manner that it was should be considered as a significant juncture of reconsideration in the life of the homeland and its citizens. The Resistance party emphasized that the decision to release the officers constitutes a direct conviction of the Lebanese authority and confirms that the logic of revenge, retaliation and maliciousness does not achieve justice or bring truth. "It proves that what is always required, even in the darkest of circumstances, is foresight, honesty, transparency and a priority given to the logic of righteousness, fairness all the way through to justice," Hezbollah statement noted.
 
Hezbollah said that the comedy represented by the long detention of the four officers was a major scandal in the country's records, noting that it completely uncovers the sponsors of the logic of monopoly and revenge. "It's believed to be an intentional blinding and a deliberate misleading of the investigation that resulted in letting the real criminals to go away," the statement added.

Hezbollah concluded its statement by congratulating the four officers and their families for their release and stressing that the priority now should be to sue and prosecute the responsible of the years of misleading and procrastination that put the country on the verge of abyss.
 
For his part, member of the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Hasan Fadlallah, who was the first to congratulate the officers' families on their release, announced Wednesday a day of joy for the Lebanese but also a day for mourning the credibility of the country’s judiciary. He said it was clear from the onset that the case against the four was politically motivated. "We had hoped that the Lebanese would have the courage and conscience to apply the law rather than their political calculations," he told reporters. "This should be a day of joy and celebration for all Lebanese."
  
Former President Emile Lahoud, who was president when Hariri was assassinated, also hailed the ruling, saying that the case against the generals was clearly a witch-hunt. "I had no doubt that they are innocent and they have not yet been given their rights, because those who persecuted them must be held accountable," he said.
 
Former Prime Minister Salim Hoss also hailed the decision to release the four officers as a delightful surprise to Lebanese. Hoss expressed regret that such decision would reflect negatively in the Lebanese judiciary's fame, given that this judiciary didn't treat the officers fairly. The former PM concluded by emphasizing that the innocence of the officers was in itself a conviction of the ruling bloc in Lebanon.
 
Vice President of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan welcomed in turn the release the four generals and said "we had wished for Lebanese judiciary to be the one to issue this fair decision."
 
The Lebanese Democratic Party congratulated the officers' families on their release, saying that the international tribunal's decision was a flagrant conviction to those responsible of the arbitrary detention.
 
Member of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Abbas Hashem also hailed the decision to release the officers and called to re-purge the judicial body in Lebanon after all what happened during the four previous years. He called on Lebanese to give their verdict in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
 
Former Minister Michel Samaha in turn said that Wednesday was the day that confirmed the collapse of the Lebanese judiciary. He called on President Michel Sleiman and the Higher Justice Council to assume their responsibilities towards the justice.
 
For his part, former Minister Wiam Wahhab said that the "lie was finally uncovered," noting that the international to be just and objective more than the Lebanese one. He said that there were some judges who deserve to enter the jails, pledging that the post-stage wouldn't be similar to the previous one.