Lebanon is allocating a donation of €500,000 for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the Lebanese Premiership announced on Friday.
In a statement, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab‘s office responded to circulating news that the Lebanese government was paying €500,000 to the STL to fulfill Lebanon’s funding responsibility.
“The fact is that this amount is a donation that will be allocated for this purpose,” the statement said.
It explained that the donation comes after “his Excellency Prime Minister Hassan Diab had repeatedly informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the presidency of the Tribunal since the beginning of this year, 2021, that Lebanon would not be able to pay its contribution to the financing of the Special Tribunal.”
Diab‘s office noted that the payment of this gift to the STL was accompanied by a request from the Tribunal to set a timetable and a detailed plan for the conclusion of its tasks.
The STL had raised the alarm over its financial situation back in May when it announced that it had run out of funds.
Without the required contributions, the Tribunal announced in early June, it would have to close down after July.
This announcement was shortly followed by the cancelation of the Salim Ayyash trial due to the shortage of funding.
Lebanon, which is responsible for covering 49% of the STL‘s funding, has been unable to make its due payment to the Tribunal this year due to the crippling economic crisis it’s going through.
