STL Judge: Ban to Name Cassese’s Successor Within Days

Judge Sir David Baragwanath, who succeeded Antonio Cassese after he stepped down as President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon this month, will not last in his post, an STL judge told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

The judge, who refused to be named, said on Sunday that a decision to announce a successor for Cassese won’t last because U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon alone has the right to appoint an STL president.

Cassese died on Friday after a long fight with cancer. “He passed away peacefully at home in Florence last night,” the STL said on Saturday.

Baragwanath succeeded him on October 9 after Cassese, 74, resigned as STL president on health grounds but continued to serve as a Judge of the Appeals Chamber.

The Asharq al-Awsat source said Ban would name “within days” a successor for Cassese from among scores of international judges who have made requests to become judges at the STL.