The judge responsible for the case of Yves Nawfal’s murder issued Wednesday an indictment recommending the death penalty for six people suspected of involvement in the crime, judicial sources said.
Judge Peter Germanos issued an indictment against the three detained suspects Charbel G. Khalil, Charbel C. Khalil, Juliano Saadeh, and three fugitive members of the Khalil family named Christian, Elie and Mario.
The source said that 23 people have been indicted in the case, including 13 who are already in custody and 10 that are yet to be apprehended.
Germanos recommended the death penalty for six, and sentences ranging from three to 20 years for the others, the source explained. The judge referred the case to the Criminal Court in Baabda.
Nawfal’s family visited Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi earlier Wednesday and Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk Tuesday. Both ministers vowed to follow up on the case.
Charbel G. Khalil and Saadeh are considered the main partners in the crime. In a video shared on social media before Khalil and Saadeh's arrest two weeks ago, the two were seen standing in front of the Kfar Debian police station, near the crime scene, announcing that they would hand themselves in.
In the video, they also claimed that their intention was not to kill Nawfal, and said they did not know him in person.
The crime took place earlier this month when Nawfal was celebrating his birthday at a pub in Kfar Debian.
The incident started out as a fistfight between Nawfal and a group of men over an offhand comment made to a woman.
Kesrouan MP Farid Haykal Khazen, who had received Khalil and Saadeh at his house to convince them to turn themselves in, later raged against the judiciary for "rendering tens of families homeless" by arresting a large number of suspects.
In a news conference Saturday, he criticized Judge Germanos and called for him to be replaced with someone “more credible."
