Aoun: I don’t want to pay for STL, I don’t bow to intimidation

Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun said that the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is not facing a deadlock just because one person happened to endorse it.    

“Defending an idea must be done according to certain rules and every penny that will be paid must be paid in due form”, he said.    

Following his bloc’s weekly meeting, when asked about PM Najib Mikati’s statement that “if Lebanon does not fund the STL, it will be serving Israel”, Aoun said, “Lebanon is wearing all of its clothes and only he who sacrifices its sovereignty is stripping it bare”.    

“I stand here boldly and say: I do not want to pay, and I won’t bow to intimidation”.     

On the possibility of including the independent funds’ budgets in the State budget, Aoun said that all the funds’ existence will be reconsidered very soon, adding “thank God for Wikileaks that uncovered how the independent funds were actually spent”.     

Aoun voiced his dissatisfaction with the state’s budget, form and content.     

He also denied having any information on possible new violations of lands in Lassa.