Constitutional Council Member: Jisr-Hobeish Conference Lacks Objectivity

Member of the constitutional council and former judge Salim Jreisati commented on the conference the March 14 alliance held two days ago in which they defended the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, saying it is legitimate and independent.

In a statement to Al Manar TV Station, Jreisati said that the "conference -held by MPs Samir Jisr and Hadi Hobeish- lacks objectivity, and that it has brought nothing new except assuring the validity of what MP Mohammad Raad presented on Thursday in his conference.

Earlier on Thursday, Future Movement MPs Samir Jisr and Hadi Hobeish held a press conference on Thursday in defense of the STL, which they claimed to be independent and legitimate.

Jisr defended the legitimacy of the STL. "Raad had said the Tribunal was adopted by an illegitimate cabinet. It would have been useful at the time to seek a confidence vote in Parliament to see whether the government was legitimate or not," he said. "The STL was unanimously adopted at the dialogue table and was not an issue of discussion even after May 7 and Doha agreement," he recalled.

For his part, Hobeish stressed that the STL is independent. "Such courts develop their own rules since they are independent. The international tribunal is totally independent of the UN Security Council.

The March 14 conference came in response to an earlier conference that was held by Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Mohamad Raad in which he pointed to the judicial weaknesses of the so-called Special Tribunal for Lebanon.