The Lebanon tribunal, the world’s first international court with jurisdiction over the crime of terrorism, was set up to try those accused over the 2005 bombing that killed Lebanese ex-prime minister Hariri and 22 others.
The prosecutor’s original indictment filed in January, the contents of which are still secret, set off a political crisis in Lebanon, where the militant Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies toppled the government of Hariri’s son, Saad Al-Hariri.
Lebanese officials and Western diplomats expect the court to accuse Hezbollah members of involvement in the assassination, a prospect Lebanese politicians fear could fuel further tensions.
Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said in a statement he had expanded the scope of his original indictment after collecting and analizing further evidence. All documents would remain confidential, he said.
The prosecutors’ office declined to comment when asked if the expanded indictment meant more people were accused or more criminal acts were detailed, or both.
“The initial indictment was accompanied by thousands of pages of supporting material and as the prosecutor made clear in his statement today this ‘amendment expands on the scope of the indictment filed on 17 January 2011,’” a spokesman for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said in separate statement.
“We are now talking about months rather than weeks for the indictment review process to be completed.”
