March 1 is Fruit of Efforts of All Lebanese
Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri, son of slain former PM Rafik Hariri, hailed the formal opening on Sunday of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon set up to prosecute suspects in his father”s 2005 assassination.
"Today the flag of justice for Lebanon is being raised in The Hague," Hariri said in a statement on the occasion of the launch of the international tribunal.
"It”s a historic date," Hariri said. "March 1 is the fruit of the efforts of all Lebanese people who supported the establishment of the tribunal and who refused to yield to threats and terror."
His father was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut”s seaside Ein Mreisseh district Feb. 14, 2005 along with 22 other people.
The international tribunal "will be neither a tool of vengeance nor a tool of extortion or compromise at the expense of Lebanon”s dignity and freedom," Hariri said in his statement.
He said the court will not only "punish the criminals, but at the same time it will be a tool for the protection of Lebanon, its leaders, its thinkers, its people and its democratic system against organized crime."
Lebanese leaders on Sunday laid wreaths on the tombs of Rafik Hariri and other political figures killed in attacks since 2005 as part of a series of ceremonies in Beirut to mark the launch of The Hague court.
"The dream has become reality and the criminal knows that justice will chase him everywhere," journalist May Chidiac said. She herself survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded in her car.
"In this region, we finally have international justice which protects us," Chidiac added.