BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun called for speedier trials as well as administrative and financial transparency for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
“Delayed justice cannot [be considered real] justice," he said, following a meeting with Ivana Hrdlickova, the tribunal’s president, who is visiting Beirut.
Hrdlickova briefed the president on the cooperation between the STL and Lebanon, Aoun's press office said in a statement.
The Tribunal was established near The Hague in 2009 after the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission was created to investigate the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But the trial did not begin until Jan. 2014 when indictments were submitted following the completion of the investigations.
Ultimately, the five men charged with the crime were Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hassan Merhi, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra, all Hezbollah affiliates.
But the accused parties are being tried in absentia for their roles in orchestrating and carrying out the attack that killed Hariri and 21 others and wounded a further 200 in the explosion near the St. Georges Hotel. Proceedings against Badreddine were halted when it was established that he was killed in May this year in Syria.
Lebanon contributes 49 percent – around $32 million – of the STL’s running costs annually since its establishment, a commitment it promised to uphold in Resolution 1757, signed in 2007.
“Delayed justice cannot [be considered real] justice," he said, following a meeting with Ivana Hrdlickova, the tribunal’s president, who is visiting Beirut.
Hrdlickova briefed the president on the cooperation between the STL and Lebanon, Aoun's press office said in a statement.
The Tribunal was established near The Hague in 2009 after the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission was created to investigate the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But the trial did not begin until Jan. 2014 when indictments were submitted following the completion of the investigations.
Ultimately, the five men charged with the crime were Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hassan Merhi, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra, all Hezbollah affiliates.
But the accused parties are being tried in absentia for their roles in orchestrating and carrying out the attack that killed Hariri and 21 others and wounded a further 200 in the explosion near the St. Georges Hotel. Proceedings against Badreddine were halted when it was established that he was killed in May this year in Syria.
Lebanon contributes 49 percent – around $32 million – of the STL’s running costs annually since its establishment, a commitment it promised to uphold in Resolution 1757, signed in 2007.
Source & Link : The Daily Star
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