BEIRUT: Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said Wednesday he would not seek reappointment for a second term as prosecutor at the end of February 2012.
“Bellemare has informed the secretary-general of the United Nations that, for health reasons, he does not intend to seek reappointment for a second term as prosecutor at the end of February 2012,” the international court said in a statement.
In his letter to Ban Ki-moon, Bellemare stated: “It has been an honor and a privilege to seek justice for the people of Lebanon. While this long and difficult journey is far from over, solid foundations have been laid to achieve justice and accountability for the attack of Feb. 14, 2005, and connected cases, through the rule of law.”
In response to Bellemare’s decision, the head of the Defense Office, Francois Roux, said the tribunal would not be where it is today had it not been for Bellemare’s efforts.
“I regret that the prosecutor’s health has forced him to retire from the pursuit of justice. Despite our different points of view, I want to underline the prosecutor’s resolve in the exercise of his difficult mandate,” the STL quoted Roux as saying.
Bellemare added that he was proud to leave behind a strong team of committed professionals who had assisted him in the past three years in carrying out a challenging mandate.
Bellemare was appointed commissioner of the U.N. International Independent Investigation Commission originally investigating the 2005 assassination Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2007, and in 2009 Ban appointed him as prosecutor for the U.N.-backed STL.
In late June of this year, the prosecutor indicted four Hezbollah members in the 2005 assassination.
Bellemare also served for a year as the special adviser to the deputy justice minister and deputy attorney general of Canada in 2006.
The news of Bellemare’s impending departure came shortly after the court said the prosecution had two days to submit a progress report on efforts to arrest the four suspects in the Hariri assassination.
“The Trial Chamber has given the Prosecution until Dec. 16 to submit a progress report on this material,” the STL said on its Twitter account Wednesday, referring to documents which Beirut submitted in response to requests for assistance.
“The Requests for Assistance relate to measures the Prosecution considers necessary to locate and arrest the 4 accused,” the STL said in response to a question by The Daily Star on the popular micro-blogging site.
The international court said the material submitted by Beirut consisted of some “425 pages of material in Arabic and a large number of emails on a CD to the Prosecution.”
The STL has described Lebanon’s efforts to arrest the suspects as insufficient.
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