BEIRUT: The prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Tuesday that it was premature to begin the in absentia trial of four Hezbollah members he accused of the 2005 assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri.

In a submission to the court ahead of a Trial Chamber hearing Friday, STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said that more time was needed for Lebanese authorities to apprehend suspects.

“It is premature to initiate trial in absentia,” Bellemare wrote in the document, published on the court’s website Tuesday. “Not enough time has been allowed for the Lebanese authorities to affect the arrests of the four accused and not enough has been done to affect the arrests because the Lebanese authorities have either been unable or unwilling to do so.”

Last month, STL Registrar Herman von Hebel asked the Trial Chamber to determine whether or not in absentia proceedings were appropriate against the accused. Friday will see prosecuting and defense counsels present their cases to decide upon the point of law and four lawyers have been appointed by the court to represent the accused for the hearing.

Bellemare argued that in absentia trials were not currently appropriate because the reasons behind the suspects’ absence were unknown.

“The Trial Chamber does not have sufficient information to determine whether the accused have absconded or otherwise cannot be found … or whether the Lebanese authorities’ inability to arrest and transfer them results from the failure or refusal of Lebanon to hand them over,” the Canadian judge said. “Moreover, the requirements for trial in absentia have not yet been met because all reasonable or necessary steps, respectively, have not been exhausted.”

Bellemare suggested that Lebanese security officials could be called to give evidence in front of the Chamber.

The STL is unique among international tribunals in that its statute contains provisions for in absentia trials of the accused, as well the assignment of legal representation for suspects.Authorities in Beirut have failed to arrest suspects and Hezbollah members Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Onessi or Assad Hassan Sabra, in spite of what security commanders have described as “daily” searches.

In what would turn out to be one of his last reports for the court, former STL President Antonio Cassese slammed Lebanon’s attempts at detaining the suspects in August as “not sufficient,” ordering State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza to file monthly progress reports detailing the ongoing manhunt.

Bellemare hinted that Lebanese authorities were not conducting a fully comprehensive search operation.

“If the Trial Chamber deems that the Lebanese authorities have taken reasonable steps to inform the accused of the charges brought against them, then the steps that have to be taken to secure the appearance of the accused – that is to say, to arrest and transfer them – should be subject to a more rigorous standard,” he said.

“The Tribunal has no police force and exclusively relies upon the Lebanese authorities in effecting the arrest and transfer of the accused, if in Lebanon,” Bellemare added.

The intention of the defense counsel has not yet been made public, but it is likely it will support Bellemare’s suggestion that in absentia trials would be untimely at this stage.

Although the court has set no official timeframe, it is thought that trials are set to commence in mid-2012.