Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar on Saturday said that Lebanon has the right to revise the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) requests, but added that Lebanon has “no right to hamper the justice [process].”
“Being a caretaker cabinet is not an argument to stop the investigation [process],” Najjar told LBC Television, adding that the refusal of cooperation “might cause Lebanon international legal [responsibilities].”
“The [memoranda of understanding] signed with the STL force Lebanon to ‘quickly’ cooperate with investigation requests,” Najjar also said.
“The law implemented according to the protocol is the Lebanese criminal law; this is the cooperation limit.”
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad said on Friday that STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare’s requests for information from Lebanese authorities “are the greatest operation of tutelage and piracy that modern Lebanon has witnessed.
The Daily Star newspaper reported on Wednesday that four ministers have not complied with information requests from Bellemare.
PM-designate Najib Mikati – appointed following the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government due to a dispute over the STL - on Thursday evening voiced surprise at the STL’s information requests, adding that he fears efforts to obtain a Security Council resolution to force compliance with them.
Mikati is currently working to form his cabinet.
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