The Hidden Success of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
For the first time in international law, a credible investigation into a terrorist assassination has been followed by a credible trial proceeding. With its judgment, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) became first ever international proceeding to prosecute a terrorist crime (the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005). Although largely overlooked in the wake of the deadly Beirut port explosion, food shortages, anti-government protests, and pandemic, this is a milestone in Lebanese and judicial history.