March 14: STL Gives Way to New Era of Justice, National Reconciliation

The March 14 general-secretariat considered on Wednesday that the launching of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's work opens the door for "justice and eventually, reconciliation and forgiveness in the country."

“With this trial, a new era starts in Lebanon and it is the era of international justice that is based on international law," the general-secretariat said in a released statement after its weekly meeting.

The work of the STL kicks off on Thursday as four suspects will go on trial in absentia, charged with the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in downtown Beirut.

“The assassination of Hariri was not the first political crime in Lebanon, but it was the first political assassination in Lebanon and the region to be addressed by international judicial bodies that are transparent and capable,” the released statement explained.

The conferees noted: “This means that we are at the beginning of a stage that draws an end to impunity, which prevailed in the country and the region for decades.”

"A just penalization is the natural, logical and legitimate answer to such a crime. All patriotic people want to close a painful chapter in Lebanon's history and reach true reconciliation and forgiveness, but under the rule of law.”

The general-secretariat expressed that the STL is the “culmination of the Lebanese people's struggle to confront tyranny, abuse and unfairness.”

"The commencement of the tribunal's work is an achievement whose price was paid with the martyrdom of several figures in the 'Lebanese civil resistance' to confront illegal and undesired weapons that contradict with the National Pact," it said.