STL Going ahead with Contempt Cases against Al-Akhbar, Al-Jadeed
The Contempt Judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has ordered initial appearances on Tuesday, May 13 of the accused in the case against New TV S.A.L. and Karma Khayat, and of the Accused in the case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Ibrahim al-Amin, announced the STL in a statement on Wednesday.
“The two journalists and two media organizations were charged with contempt before the tribunal for knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice,” it added.
As stated by the Contempt Judge in the summons, the accused may decide either to come to the seat of the tribunal or to make their initial appearance by video-conference, provided that counsel attends in person.
The hearings will be public, but the judge may decide to go into closed session if confidential matters need to be discussed, said the STL statement.
The hearings can be followed live on the STL website in Arabic. English and French.
New TV S.A.L. and Khayat, the network's deputy news and political program manager, are charged with “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by broadcasting and/or publishing information on purported confidential witnesses” and “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by failing to remove from al-Jadeed TV’s website and al-Jadeed TV’s YouTube channel information on purported confidential witnesses.”
Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and al-Amin, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, are charged with “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by publishing information on purported confidential witnesses in the Ayyash et al. Case.”
In April last year, a list of 167 names of so-called witnesses for the former premier Rafik 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's spokesperson Marten Youssef explained recently that the journalists' trial will take place before an independent judge.
Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said of the summons: “Investigations with al-Jadeed and al-Akhbar will prove their innocence.”
He warned the two journalists of failing to appear before the STL's hearing, saying: “This move will lead to repercussions including the issuance of arrest warrants.”
Several lawmakers voiced their solidarity with the journalists and slammed the STL for its actions.
Hizbullah's MP Hassan Fadlallah said that the move is an assault on the freedom of the Lebanese, warning: “Any journalist uncovering the corruption of the tribunal will have the same fate as al-Khayat and al-Amin.”
The STL, established at Lebanon's request, seeks to try five members of Hizbullah for the attack that killed former PM Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005, in Beirut.
M.T.
S.D.B.
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