United Nations- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) for a period of three years from March 1.
UN Spokesman, Stephane DuJarric, told UN correspondents on Friday in New York that the extension was in accordance with Security Council resolution 1757 (2005).
He said the mandate of the STL, which is based near The Hague in the Netherlands, is to hold trials for those accused of carrying out the attack of Feb. 14 in Beirut which killed 22 people, including the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, and injured many others.
Five accused have been indicted over the killing.
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DuJarric said the trial in absentia began in January 2014 and is currently ongoing.
The spokesman said the Secretary-General reaffirms the commitment of the United Nations to support the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to bring those responsible to justice and to ensure that impunity for such major crimes will not be tolerated.
The United Nations, he said, looks forward to the continued support and cooperation of the Government of Lebanon.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the STL is an international criminal tribunal undertaking the prosecution, under Lebanese criminal law, of the persons responsible for the attack resulting in the assassination of Hariri, former Lebanese prime minister, and the deaths of 22 others, on 14 February 2005.
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The tribunal officially opened on March 1, 2009, and has primacy over the national courts of Lebanon.
The tribunal’s eleven judges, a combination of Lebanese and international judges, are appointed by the UN Secretary-General for a renewable term of three years.
NAN further recalls that the tribunal’s mandate was initially three years. (NAN)
