Judges at The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) have scrapped a new trial against the man convicted of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, because they expect the court to run out of money and be forced to shut down before it can finish.
Last year the tribunal, located near The Hague, convicted Salim Jamil Ayyash, a former Hezbollah member, in absentia for the bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others on the Beirut seafront. That ruling is being appealed.
A second case was meant to begin on June 16, prosecuting Ayyash for another assassination and other attacks on other Lebanese politicians in 2004-2005.
But in a decision published Thursday on the court's website, the judges wrote they had cancelled the case, "considering it is futile to start a trial in June which is highly likely to be terminated in July due to lack of funds.”
Earlier this week the tribunal announced it will have to close after July if it is unable to resolve its funding shortage.
The tribunal was created by a 2007 UN Security Council resolution. Its 2020 budget was 55 million euros ($67 million).
The court said the 2021 budget was cut by nearly 40 percent but it still struggled to get contributions.
“Despite taking significant cuts of staff and across the board reductions, without additional funding, the Tribunal will be forced to close its doors in the coming months,” said the tribunal's Registrar David Tolbert. He added that this will leave “important cases unfinished to the detriment of victims, the fight against impunity and the rule of law.”
