Five men facing execution for killing of Private Seán Rooney

Private Seán Rooney and his colleagues were just four minutes from the main highway into Beirut when their vehicle was fired upon on December 14. Picture: Defence Forces

Five men could face execution after being charged in connection with the killing of Irish UN peacekeeper Private Sean Rooney in Lebanon.

According to a judicial source in Lebanon, the military court which has charged the men claims they were part of a Hezbollah-led militia.

The Acting First Military Investigating Judge Fadi Sawan is understood to have accused the men of "forming a group of malefactors to commit a crime" in his 30-page indictment in the case.

His document also claims that CCTV footage from the scene of PTE Rooney’s death "clearly shows the patrol being attacked by armed men from all sides”.

It also claims: “Some of them could be heard saying 'we are Hezbollah' and using walkie-talkies to communicate.” 

The men, named as Muhammad Ayad, Ali Khalifa, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman and Mustafa Salman, have all been accused of "intentional homicide”, which carries the death penalty under Lebanese law.

According to various Lebanese media reports, the judge has said that the men’s alleged actions come under Article 335 and Article 549 of the Lebanese Penal Code which state that if someone commits a crime against an official employee during the exercise of his position, or because of it, he shall be punished with death.

Private Rooney and his colleagues were just four minutes from the main highway into Beirut when their vehicle was fired upon on December 14 in the village of Al-Aqibiya after getting separated from another vehicle while travelling to Beirut.

A crowd surrounded their vehicle and were able to prise open the back tailgate of the UNIFIL branded armoured utility vehicle.

While they managed to escape, a number of men opened fire, and Pte Rooney was hit and killed.

According to a judicial source speaking to the press agency AFP, Mr Ayyad has been charged "with killing the Irish soldier and attempting to kill his three comrades by shooting them with a machine gun".

Others have also been charged, according to AFP, for "uttering threats with an illegal weapon, destroying the UNIFIL vehicle and intimidating its passengers”.

An Irish Defence Forces spokesperson said that as legal proceedings and investigations are ongoing, "it would be inappropriate for the Defence Forces to comment".

A Unifil spokesperson told the Irish Examiner: “We are aware the judge has issued this indictment, but we have to go through it in detail.

“This is an important step towards justice. We continue to call for accountability for all those involved and we continue to look for justice not just for Private Rooney but also the other who suffered during this incident.” 

Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif Naboulsi, when asked for a comment by the French language daily newspaper in Lebanon L'Orient-Le Jour, said his party “has no comment at the moment”.

While the death penalty has not been formally abolished in Lebanon, there have been no State executions there since January 2004.

An unofficial moratorium on the death penalty has been in place ever since.