Date: Feb 14, 2018 Source: The Daily Star STL: Francois Roux to step down as defense head Victoria Yan| The Daily Star LEIDSCHENDAM, The Netherlands: The head of the combined defense teams at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Francois Roux Wednesday announced his upcoming departure before a group of Lebanese journalists. “I will be very sad to leave my functions as the head of the defense office on the 28th of February... but I’d like to say that this was not my decision,” Roux said via video call from the STL office in Beirut. He has not been reappointed by the tribunal as he has passed the retirement age (65) set by the STL Rules and Regulations. Roux joined the STL upon its official opening in March 2009, working towards proving the accused - Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra, Hassan Oneissi and Hussein Merhi - innocent of charges pitting them at the center of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14, 2005. Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine was among the original group to be indicted, but charges were dropped against him in Mary 2016 after his death in Syria was confirmed. Roux is currently meeting with top Lebanese officials who have participated with the STL to give his formal farewells. “I’ve come to say goodbye to head of General Security Abbas Ibrahim who has provided us great support, ... Elizabeth Sioufi from the Beirut Bar Association’s Institute for Human Rights [and] ... the many ministers who have helped us do our job as the defense,” he said. The Tribunal’s President Judge Ivana Hrdli?kov? praised Roux’s contribution to the tribunal, saying, “Francois Roux went to an enormous effort to make the Defence Office at the STL – a novelty amongst international criminal tribunals upon its creation – a fully independent, highly professional organ, dedicated to promoting the equality of arms in judicial proceedings and to ensure that it became a landmark institution for international criminal justice." Roux added that he had met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri Tuesday, speaking positively of their relationship. Following his departure, Deputy Head of the Defense Office Heleyn Unac is set to be the interim Head of Defense. “The defense office continues its mission, I want you to be sure of that,” Roux said at the end of his announcement. “I wish full success to my colleagues... I have not given up on Lebanon.”