Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Reports that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) would cease to operate past July 2021 have proved somewhat premature. Perhaps, a more appropriate description is that the STL is now on life support. Following significant budgetary cuts, which were recently approved by the STL’s Management Committee, the Tribunal will be able to continue with the Appeal Phase of its first and only case, STL 11-01, until the end of the year. STL 11-01 concerns the 14 February 2005 bomb attack against Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, which killed Hariri and twenty-two others. The trial phase saw three suspects acquitted (another died before proceedings concluded) and the conviction of Salim Jamil Ayyash in absentia. The mid-term future of the STL will involve the Tribunal winding down its activities. The start of the Tribunal’s second case, STL 18-10, relating to three other attacks against politicians in Lebanon connected to Hariri’s assassination, has been cancelled due to insufficient funding, despite having been scheduled to commence on 16 June 2021. The future of…