Naharnet

STL Status Conference in Case against Amin, Al-Akhbar Set for September 12

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Contempt Judge Nicola Lettieri issued on Tuesday an order scheduling a status conference in the case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Ibrahim Mohamed Ali al-Amin for September 12.

In his order, Lettieri invited Amin to participate in the status conference, which will start at 3 PM (CET), announced the STL in a statement.

The hearing will cover issues related to counsel's representation of the Accused, the state of the pre-trial proceedings, and any other matter of relevance that the Parties wish to discuss.

The scheduling order follows a decision by a panel of judges dismissing Amin’s request to disqualify Lettieri from hearing the case.

Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Amin 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.”

New TV S.A.L. and deputy head of news at al-Jadeed television Karma Tahsin al-Khayat have been also accused of the same charges.

An initial hearing for the two journalists and their media organizations was held on May 13 at the STL headquarters in The Hague.

Al-Jadeed Director General Dmitry Khodr and Khayat entered pleas of not guilty.

Amin did not attend the session.

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.


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