Tit-for-Tat Lawsuits between Berri and al-Jadeed after Attack

Speaker Nabih Berri has filed a lawsuit against al-Jadeed TV, its owner Tahsin Khayat, its chairwoman Karma Khayat and its news director Mariam al-Bassam, state-run National News Agency said on Friday.

He accused them of “criminal defamation, stirring sectarian sentiments, and libel and slander in connection with what has been aired and stated,” NNA said.

Al-Jadeed meanwhile filed a lawsuit against Berri and his AMAL Movement, accusing them of “attacking freedoms, deliberate harm and death threats.”

The TV network's lawsuit was filed after two assailants torched a live broadcast vehicle belonging to al-Jadeed outside the channel's headquarters at dawn Thursday.

The attack followed the removal of al-Jadeed from cable service distribution in several regions across Lebanon including Beirut and its southern suburbs.

“Whenever we air any report containing criticism against Speaker Nabih Berri, an attack on the station follows, knowing that we've broadcast thousands of reports targeting everyone without anyone acting in this manner,” Karma Khayat said on Thursday.

State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud has referred al-Jadeed's lawsuit to the public prosecution for further investigations aimed at “unveiling the perpetrators and handing them the severest punishment,” NNA said.

Al-Jadeed said its lawsuit is linked to Thursday's attack and similar previous incidents.

In February, supporters of Berri's AMAL Movement attempted to storm al-Jadeed TV's building in protest at a satirical TV show that they deemed insulting to the parliament speaker and to AMAL founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr.

The angry protesters hurled rocks and firecrackers at the building, causing substantial material damage and injuring two al-Jadeed employees and a policeman.

Al-Jadeed's building had come under several such attacks in the past.