STL President Doubts STL Legitimacy, Confirms Three Secret Documents Leaked
President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Judge David Baragwanath, quoted Head of the STL Defense Office Francois Roux as stating that there could be impeachment of the STL's legitimacy and that of its establishment.
On this level, he clarified in an interview with al-Akhbar daily that he does not have any answer regarding the STL legitimacy doubts because he has two duties, "first of which is the presidency of the STL, in accordance with article 10 [which he mistook for article 12] that states his responsibility to represent the tribunal. His second duty is him being one of the five judges of the STL's Appeals body and in case the STL legitimacy is impeached, this case would be referred to the said body".
Whether or not he was sure of the legitimacy of the STL, Baragwanath told al-Akhbar daily, "I didn't comment on the bidding the STL's legitimacy, and if I did, I would contradict the rules of justice."
Moreover, he refused to comment on the indictment, stating that it wasn't demonstrated before them in the tribunal, especially that when the indictment was set, there weren't any defense attorneys.
"Today, there are eight defense attorneys, and therefore I will end this case after hearing the defense and prosecution, without any prior sentences," Baragwanath stated.
On another hand, the STL President indicated that he doesn't have any answer regarding why Hizbullah was mentioned in the indictment issued into former Rafik Hariri's assassination case, clarifying the STL is entitled to prosecute only individuals and not organizations.
Regarding the leaked information and documents possessed by the international investigation committee, Baragwanath asserted that "three secret documents in the possession of the independent investigation committee were leaked to public." He referred that had he known how the leakage is happening, he would have answered all questions related to the leaks and put an end to it.
Source: al-Akhbar daily, translated and edited by moqawama.org
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