STL Summons for Lebanese Journalists 'Void'

The summons by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of al-Jadeed TV and al-Akhbar newspaper's journalists on charges of “contempt and obstruction of justice” are “void” and could be refuted.

Lawyer Antoine Korkmaz, who is suspect Mustafa Badreddine's lead defense counsel, told As Safir newspaper on Saturday that the case “is legally invalid.”

According to Korkmaz the international court's decision to summon journalists and the heads of boards of directors in both media companies and not to the managers “signal the lack of apprehension of the court norms followed in Lebanon.”

The STL announced on Thursday that it has summoned Karma Mohammed Tahsin al-Khayat from al-Jadeed, as well as the station’s parent company New TV S.A.L., and Ibrahim Mohammed al-Amin from al-Akhbar, as well as the newspaper’s parent company Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. to appear before it on two counts of Contempt and Obstruction of Justice.

They are accused of "knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by broadcasting and/or publishing information on purported confidential witnesses".

In April last year, a list of 167 names of so-called witnesses for the Hariri trial was published by a previously unknown group identified as "Journalists for the Truth".

The group said it wanted to "unveil the corruption" of the STL.

Both Al-Akhbar and Al-Jadeed published the list.

The STL, established at Lebanon's request, seeks to try five members of Hizbullah for the attack that killed former premier Rafik Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005, in Beirut.

The accused may choose whether to appear at the court in person or by video-link. The initial appearances of the accused are scheduled for May 13, 2014.

On Friday, several journalists rallied near the Ministry of Information in Beirut, to protest the STL's decision.

-H.K.

-D.A.