Naharnet

Ruling in STL Case against al-Amin, al-Akhbar Scheduled for July 15

The Contempt Judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Judge Nicola Lettieri, has scheduled the judgment in the contempt case against al-Akhbar newapaper editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Amin and Akhbar Beirut S.A.L for July 15, 2016, the STL said in a statement on Friday.

The trial opened before the Contempt Judge on February 24, 2016 with opening statements by the Amicus Curiae Prosecutor and the Defense.

The Amicus presented his case in chief from February 24 to 26 and on February 29 and March 1. The Defense presented their own case from 7 to 8 April.

Both parties presented their closing arguments on May 13 2016.

Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and al-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.”

In April 2013, a list of 167 names of so-called witnesses for the Rafik Hariri murder 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 television published the list.

The STL is trying five members of Hizbullah it has accused of involvement in the attack that killed Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005, in Beirut.

Hizbullah accuses the court of being part of an "Israeli-US" plot, and has yet to hand over the suspects.

The trial of the Hizbullah operatives opened in a suburb outside The Hague in January 2014.


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