President of the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon Sir Judge David Baragwanath is keen to fully carry out his
tasks in order to achieve the purpose behind the formation of the tribunal,
al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.
Sources told the daily
that Baragwanath stressed during his meetings with senior Lebanese officials on
the independence of the tribunal, slamming any attempt to exploit it.
General Prosecutor Saeed
Mirza told al-Joumhouria that the STL president didn’t tackle with him the
tribunal’s work, saying: “The required work is done silently; we talk about it
when it’s necessary.”
Baragwanath, who was
accompanied by his deputy Judge Ralph Riachi, met on Wednesday with Mirza at
the Justice Palace
The officials were then
given a tour of the general prosecution’s wing dedicated to the tribunal.
Head of the Bar
Association in Beirut Nuhad Jabr told the daily that his meeting with
Baragwanath was plainly a protocol, as the gatherers discussed general issues.
According to Jabr, the
STL president urged more Lebanese lawyers to participate in the STL’s defense
office.
Baragwanath arrived in Lebanon
He was elected STL
president after Judge Antonio Cassese stepped down in October 2011 on health
grounds. Cassese later passed away.
The tribunal, set up by the
U.N. Security Council at the request of a past Lebanese government to try those
responsible for the assassination of Hariri in 2005, announced in February that
it will put four Hizbullah members on trial even though they have not yet been
detained.
Arrest warrants have
been issued for the four members -- Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein
Oneissi, and Assad Sabra.
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