It has been 10 years since the accused terrorists from Hezbollah assassinated the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and to date justice has yet to have been served for the victim and the nation.
The Prime Minister, largely credited for the successful rebuilding of Beirut after the end of the country's civil war was killed by a bomb planted by five accused members of Hezbollah.
The defendants are being tried in absentia in the Netherlands by a U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon despite threats by the leader of the terror group.
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has cast the assassination and tribunal as an Israeli plot, has warned he would "cut off the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest the five Hezbollah suspects, saying the tribunal will never get its hands on them, not "even in 300 years."
Since the beginning of the trial in January 2014 there have been many Lebanese politicians and witnesses travel to give testimony to the tribunal and a verdict is expected within a year.
Court spokeswoman Marianne El Hajj said the tribunal is delivering justice, even without the defendants in court, and said she hopes it will have a positive impact across the Middle East and North Africa.
"The region is changing and its people are demanding justice and accountability," she said.
The long path to justice has not yet reached its end, but it will one day and by doing so will be
seen as a small but necessary step toward ending a culture of impunity in an increasingly violent region.