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The President and Vice-President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are to meet senior Lebanese political and judicial officials and will continue the dialogue with representatives of civil society
29 January 2010 – The President of the Tribunal, Judge Antonio Cassese, and the Vice-President, Judge Ralph Riachy, will be travelling to Lebanon on 1 February 2010 for a week-long visit during which they will be meeting some of the country’s most senior political and judicial officials. They will also be speaking to judges, lawyers and experts in international criminal justice, as well as Lebanese university students.
The main purpose of the visit is to:
- strengthen cooperation and maintain the dialogue between the Tribunal and Lebanon;
- have an exchange of views with representatives of civil society and experts; and
- listen to the concerns expressed by their interlocutors about the role of the Tribunal and the challenges it faces.
During the visit, the President and the Vice-President will hold talks with the President of the Republic, the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the Foreign and Justice Ministers. Meetings are also planned with the First President of the Court of Cassation and the Prosecutor General at that Court.
The President will also be holding conferences at the Beirut Bar and, following an invitation from the Rector, at Saint Joseph University.
In order to preserve the impartiality of the Tribunal, it was agreed that the President and the Vice-President would not be meeting H.E. Saad Hariri and H.E. Elias Murr during this visit because of the personal link they have with cases that may fall under the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. This clearly does not detract in any way from the profound respect that the President and the Vice-President have for their office.
The President and Vice-President should like to thank their interlocutors for the positive response to their visit and look forward to the stronger links between the Tribunal and Lebanon that will result from it.
For further information, please contact Press Officer / Spokesperson Ms. Fatima El-Issawi:
Or Outreach Officer Ms. Wajed Ramadan:
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