Critics argue the Special Tribunal for Lebanon failed and should close down because it did not lead to a single arrest Experts participating in an Arab News webinar said Hariri tribunal should be allowed to complete its mandate The clock is ticking ever closer to a moment of reckoning. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which was established to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, has run out of money and is due to permanently close at the end of July.