Victims apply for case before STL

More than 60 people have applied to participate as victims before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the case of Ayyash et al.  A deadline for applications was set up by the Pre-Trial Judge on 8 September and expired yesterday. The applicants are members of various Lebanese communities and include people who suffered different kinds of harm as a result of the 14 February 2005 attack. These and other victims have been met by the STL's Victims' Participation Unit, which has a mandate to inform victims about their rights before the Tribunal, and help them apply for participation if they wish to do so. The victims' applications are to be translated and then provided to the Pre-Trial Judge, who will decide on each individual application for participation and issue a decision. The process might take up to several months. According to the Pre-Trial Judge’s order, victims who did not apply by the deadline might still be permitted to participate if they can show valid reasons to justify the late submission of their application.