United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a Czech Judge to the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the court said in a press release on Friday.

Juge Ivana Hrdličková will replace as of mid-January Judge Kjell Erik Björnberg, who is retiring, it said.

Judge David Baragwanath, President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, on Thursday stressed that the U.N.-backed court “has no interest whatsoever in people's politics,” noting that the work of STL's judges has nothing to do with how the world labels Hizbullah.

In an interview on LBCI television, Baragwanath said the tribunal is required to work vigorously, adding that it must avoid any procrastination and emphasizing that justice must be fulfilled. He noted that delay is only acceptable when it serves the purpose of achieving justice.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath held talks on Thursday with General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi at the Justice Palace, reported the National News Agency.

The two sides agreed to maintain cooperation between the Lebanese judiciary and the STL.

Defense lawyers at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon expressed their concerns on Tuesday over the high number of witnesses to testify in next March's trials, requesting data and documents “to understand the grounds on which the court is basing its judgments”.

“We were not informed by the Prosecutor when and why the suspects became part if these investigations,” said one of the suspects' lawyers during a status conference at the Tribunal's headquarter in the Hague.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen will hold a hearing on November 27 as “part of his duties to ensure that the proceedings are not unduly delayed,” said the STL in a statement on Wednesday.

The Status Conference, which will begin at 2:30 pm (Central European time), will be public, it added.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued a public redacted version of the Prosecution’s Pre-Trial Brief, which is now available on the STL website, it announced in a statement on Monday.

According to the Brief, the Prosecution intends to call 557 witnesses and there are 13,170 exhibits on the exhibit list, and the total time estimated for presentation of the Prosecution’s case is 457.5 hours.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday the need for France's support for Lebanon, while highlighting the strength of the historic ties between the two countries.

He said: “The situation in southern Lebanon, Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the Lebanese government's policy of disassociation from the Syrian crisis will ensure Lebanon's stability.”

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced on Friday that the Prosecution has filed its Pre-Trial Brief, the list of witnesses it intends to call at trial, and the list of exhibits it intends to offer into evidence in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Thursday's filing is in accordance with a deadline set by the Pre-Trial Judge as part of the preparation for trial, the STL said in a statement.

The Office of the Prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has analyzed a videotape from the scene of the blast that killed Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch chief and ruled that none of the suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination were appearing in it, As Safir daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said the Prosecutor's office had unofficially received one of the videotapes that caught the Oct. 19 car bomb blast in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district, which left ISF Intelligence Bureau chief Wissam al-Hasan and two others dead.

The Appeals Chamber of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon has unanimously dismissed challenges by the Defense asking for a review of the decision to begin an in absentia trial against the four men accused in the February 14, 2005 attack that killed former premier Rafik Hariri, the STL said in a statement on Thursday.

The Trial Chamber decided in February to try the four accused – Hizbullah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra – in their absence after they failed to appear before the Tribunal.