AGL 38.15 Increased By ▲ 0.90 (2.42%)
AIRLINK 121.51 Decreased By ▼ -2.51 (-2.02%)
BOP 5.85 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (4.09%)
CNERGY 3.75 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.81%)
DCL 8.40 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.82%)
DFML 40.89 Increased By ▲ 0.62 (1.54%)
DGKC 84.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.14 (-1.33%)
FCCL 32.70 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.31%)
FFBL 65.50 Decreased By ▼ -1.00 (-1.5%)
FFL 10.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.08%)
HUBC 103.80 Increased By ▲ 0.70 (0.68%)
HUMNL 13.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-1.12%)
KEL 4.43 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (4.24%)
KOSM 7.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.25%)
MLCF 37.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.80 (-2.09%)
NBP 60.25 Decreased By ▼ -4.76 (-7.32%)
OGDC 172.25 Decreased By ▼ -1.55 (-0.89%)
PAEL 24.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.4%)
PIBTL 5.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.72%)
PPL 141.69 Decreased By ▼ -1.01 (-0.71%)
PRL 22.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-1.13%)
PTC 14.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.37 (-2.45%)
SEARL 64.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.79 (-1.21%)
TELE 7.14 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (2%)
TOMCL 35.50 Decreased By ▼ -1.41 (-3.82%)
TPLP 7.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.68%)
TREET 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.56%)
TRG 51.75 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (4.12%)
UNITY 26.60 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (1.72%)
WTL 1.22 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.61%)
BR100 9,483 Decreased By -118.3 (-1.23%)
BR30 28,371 Decreased By -202.1 (-0.71%)
KSE100 88,967 Decreased By -1319.8 (-1.46%)
KSE30 27,827 Decreased By -515.9 (-1.82%)

The tribunal set up to try the killers of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri on Monday fined a journalist 10,000 euros for obstruction of justice. "I hereby sentence Ms Karma Khayat to a fine of 10,000 euros ($11,100) to be paid in full no later than October 30," judge Nicola Lettieri told a hearing at the Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Ten days ago Khayat's Lebanese television station Al-Jadeed was cleared of contempt charges after being accused of publishing details of alleged witnesses in the highly sensitive trial of five men accused of murdering Hariri in 2005. The TV station was absolved on contempt charges and so too was its deputy chief editor Khayat, but the judge found her guilty of obstruction of justice because she failed to remove the broadcasts from the TV's website and social media as ordered.
In his September 18 judgement, Lettieri said the prosecution failed to prove that Al-Jadeed committed a criminal act. However, Khayat herself "was at least wilfully blind to the (court's) order," to remove the broadcasts from the station's website as well as from YouTube, the judge said. Set up in 2007, the court is the only international ad hoc tribunal with the jurisdiction to try an act of terror. It is specifically trying suspects charged with the murder of Hariri, killed with 22 others including a suicide bomber in a massive car bombing on the Beirut waterfront on February 14, 2005.
Al-Jadeed - which had been critical of Hariri - broadcast five programmes in August 2012 on the alleged witnesses due to testify at the trial. The prosecutor had later said "11 witnesses were approached", raising concerns about protecting the identities of those giving evidence. Speaking in court before the sentence was pronounced, Khayat's lawyer Karim Khan said his client was caught up in an "unconventional contempt case".

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.