According to the press release, the STL "is the only international Tribunal that can prosecute accused in their absence" to ensure that justice is not unduly delayed. In its decision to try the accused in absentia, the Trial Chamber reviewed efforts by the Lebanese government to inform the accused of the charges against them and/or to serve them with the indictment, along with the Tribunal's own decision to lift the confidentiality of the original indictment to ensure that the case was widely publicized. According to the Chamber, these measures to inform the accused of the pending charges against them sufficiently satisfy the requirements to commence the trial in absentia.

In June 2011, a partially redacted version of the indictment was made public in order to broadcast the case against the four suspects. The indictment alleges a complex and well-planned operation commencing sometime in November 2004 and ending on February 14, 2011. The prosecution asserts that it can link the four suspects, through documentary evidence and call data records, not only to specific locations within Lebanon, but also to a larger cell of operatives. All four indictees are chargedunder Articles 2 and 3 of the Statute for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Lebanese Criminal Code, and Lebanese Law of 1958with conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act. Two of the indictees are charged with committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device, international homicide of Hariri and twenty-one others, and attempted international homicide of 231 others. Two others, who were in charge of distributing a false confessional video to major TV networks in order to divert the investigation, were also charged with being accomplices to the crimes listed above.

Source : ASIL