BEIRUT: The trial of a top editor of Al-Jadeed for contempt of court was delayed to the spring of 2015, a judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Monday, and will be a “swift” trial that lasts a little over a month.
The trial was originally scheduled for late November in The Hague, but was delayed after defense lawyers for Karma al-Khayyat, the deputy head of news at Al-Jadeed, said they needed more time to prepare their case.
“I consider that a date in 2014 for the start of the trial is now really unrealistic,” said Contempt Judge Nicola Lettieri, at a pretrial conference with prosecutors and Khayyat and Al-Jadeed TV’s lawyers. “The defense simply requires time to investigate.”
“We cannot begin the trial this year,” he said.
Lettieri said an appropriate trial date would be in the second half of March, but said he would arrive on a final date soon, and that the trial would be “swift and concentrated.”
The STL is tasked with prosecuting those responsible for the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2005 that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and plunged Lebanon into turmoil.
The U.N.-backed tribunal has indicted five members of Hezbollah in connection with the attack and their trial in absentia is ongoing in The Hague.
Khayyat and her parent company are accused of contempt of court and obstruction of justice in connection with a TV news report aired by Al-Jadeed that allegedly disclosed personal details of secret witnesses in the Hariri case.
If convicted, the accused face a maximum of seven years in jail, a fine of 100,000 euros, or both.
Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar newspaper, faces similar charges.
The case has aroused widespread opposition in Lebanese civil society. Opponents say the court is stifling freedom of the press in Lebanon and is singling out Al-Jadeed and Al-Akhbar. Western news outlets have disclosed sensitive Hariri investigation details without facing prosecution. They also say the court ought to focus on its core mandate of trying Hariri’s assassins.
Officials, MPs and academics have written to the court opposing the trial.
The STL argues that a trial is necessary to preserve public confidence in the tribunal and to protect witnesses from intimidation. It also argues that freedom of expression has limits and cannot be used to undermine the integrity of legal proceedings.
Defense lawyers had argued that they need more time to study the evidence disclosed to them by the prosecutor, including expert reports and witness statements that will be used in the trial.
They said that any trial before February would undermine the rights of the accused, saying the proper administration of justice was “critically important for the good name of Karma al-Khayyat and Al-Jadeed.”
Lawyers on both sides pledged to make the trial as focused as possible. Prosecutors said they plan on calling 12 witnesses and would need about two weeks to complete their presentation of evidence, totaling between 15 and 20 hours of courtroom time.
Defense lawyers said that their case would not be longer than that of the prosecution.
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