The international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has appointed a new chief prosecutor. According to The Daily Star, this was the Canadian lawyer Norman Farrell, who replaced his compatriot Daniel Bellemare in this post.

The replacement of the prosecutor has become planned: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced it at the end of February.

Farrell has extensive experience in international courts. In particular, he worked as a deputy prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Simultaneously with the chief prosecutor, Ugandan Daniel Nsereko was sworn in, who will take the post of judge of the Appeals Chamber of the Lebanese tribunal, replacing Italian Antonio Cassese.

Nsereko worked for a long time at the International Criminal Court, where, among other things, he heard cases of crimes in various African countries.

The head of the International Tribunal for Lebanon, New Zealand judge David Baragwanath, expressed hope that once the positions are filled it will be possible to begin the process: “I very much hope that with the completion of the formation of the team of prosecution, defense and the Appeals Chamber, we will finally be able to implement justice".

As previously reported, the tribunal to investigate the assassination of Rafik Hariri began operating in The Hague in 2009. According to the indictment prepared by prosecutors and the investigative team, the main suspects in the murder of the ex-premier are members of the Shiite Hezbollah movement .

The leadership of the movement categorically denies the involvement of its activists in the terrorist attack that killed Hariri in 2005. They call the tribunal an “American-Israeli puppet” and the future trial itself a farce.

Due to strong opposition from the Hezbollah- influenced Lebanese government , the trial was postponed many times without ever starting.

Rafik Hariri tribunal appoints new prosecutor