UN extends mandate of Special Lebanon Tribunal until December 31
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Alaina
- . January 13, 2023
- . Update: January 13, 2023 4:32 pm
The United Nations (UN) has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon from March 1 to December 31 for the completion of the non-judicial residual functions and the closure of the tribunal.
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, confirmed the extension of the mandate of the tribunal that investigated the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Guterres called on UN member states to continue to fund the tribunal.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric revealed that the plan would guide the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to ensure the completion of its work by December 31, 2023. A completion plan has been agreed upon by the United Nations and the government of Lebanon.
Under the completion plan, the mandate period would preserve records and archives, respond to requests for information and ensure the protection of victims and witnesses who cooperated with the special investigation.
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Earlier, the special tribunal acquitted Assad Hassan Sabra from the case. Following a complex investigation, it convicted Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi for their roles in the attack of February 14, 2005, in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 22 people. It sentenced the three men to five concurrent sentences of life imprisonment.
Last year, appeals judges sentenced the two members of the Hezbollah group, Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi, to life imprisonment for their roles in the 2005 attack that killed Rafik Hariri. They were tried in absentia at the court near The Hague, Netherlands. The tribunal’s president, Czech judge Ivana Hrdličková, also confirmed that Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi were involved in the attack. Later on, Salim Ayyash, another member of Hezbollah, was found guilty.
According to Arab News, the trial judges ruled out that Hezbollah’s leadership and Syria were involved in the 2005 attack.
