Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s press office issued a statement this evening, regretting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s decision to suspend trials in the cases of the assassination of Martyr George Hawi and the assassination attempts against the two former ministers, Marwan Hamadeh and Elias Murr, and some matters related to the trial of Martyr PM Rafic Hariri.
“Due to the inability of the Lebanese state to fulfill its obligations in light of the stifling economic and financial crisis witnessed by our people, and the failure of the international community to pay its dues, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has decided to suspend the trial in the cases of the assassination of Martyr George Hawi and the assassination attempts against the two former ministers, Marwan Hamadeh and Elias Murr, as well as other issues related to the trial of Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and his companions,” the statement said.
“It is a sad decision that the train of justice stops when we need it the most, and it is painful for the reasons to be financial. Therefore, we call on the Lebanese government to pay the financial contribution it owes, and we call on the international community to assume its responsibilities, and fulfill its obligations in these humanitarian issues of international justice, especially since we fear that abandoning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would denote an abandonment of justice and human right to opinion expression and conviction practices as stipulated in the laws of the United Nations, a matter that would encourage political assassination, impunity and the establishment of the law of the jungle in a country like Lebanon that is drowning in a sea of crises,” the statement underlined.
“Based on our belief in justice and our conviction in freedom and democracy, we call on the Lebanese state to pay its due financial contribution, and we appeal to friendly and brotherly countries to provide the financial obligations to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, because its work would put an end to political murders, establish the principle of non-impunity and promote a culture of justice and defense of the human being and his right to life,” the statement concluded.
Source: National News Agency