Journalists Denounce STL Charges Against Al-Akhbar, Al-Jadeed

Local Editor

Journalists and supporters of media freedom gathered to offer their support to the editors of al-Akhbar and al-Jadeed who are being sought by an international court on charges of contempt and obstruction of justice, at the Press Syndicate in Lebanon's capital of Beirut as al-Akhbar said on Monday.

The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon [STL] announced last week that it was summoning Al-Akhbar's editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Amin and al-Jadeed Television's deputy director Karma al-Khayat for publishing a list of the prosecution's witnesses.

The court, set up to investigate the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, has charged the journalists and their media organizations with "knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by broadcasting and/or publishing information on purported confidential witnesses."

However, journalists and Lebanese officials have denounced the STL for targeting media, dismissing the court as a politicized tool aimed at discrediting its critics.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team