The main suspect in the killing of Private Seán Rooney in Lebanon has failed to show at a hearing of the military tribunal in Beirut.
A lawyer representing Mohammad Ayyad cited medical reasons for the no show.
He provided a one-page medical report, which they said was verified by the Lebanese hospital authority and Ministry of Health, to the assistant military prosecutor Claude Ghanem.
The report outlining the reasons for which Mr Ayyad was hospitalised was not read aloud in court.
Brigadier General Khalil Ali Jaber, who presided over a five-judge bench, made the unusual request of asking Mr Ayyad’s lawyer if they had brought a photo of the suspect in hospital.
The lawyer responded that they had not brought such a photo. The military court then accepted the medical report and postponed the hearing until June 2024.
The hearing in Beirut was attended by Nuala O’Brien, Ireland’s ambassador in Cairo, which has responsibility for diplomatic relations with Lebanon, George Siam, Ireland’s honorary consul in Lebanon and Joe Karam, a Lebanese lawyer who is representing the Irish Government during the hearings.
A legal observer from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, was also present to observe the proceedings.
For full story see https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/1215/1422206-sean-rooney/
