The Contempt Judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has ordered initial appearances on Tuesday, May 13 of the accused in the case against New TV S.A.L. and Karma Khayat, and of the Accused in the case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Ibrahim al-Amin, announced the STL in a statement on Wednesday. “The two journalists and two media organizations were charged with contempt before the tribunal for knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice,” it added.

 

As stated by the Contempt Judge in the summons, the accused may decide either to come to the seat of the tribunal or to make their initial appearance by video-conference, provided that counsel attends in person. The hearings will be public, but the judge may decide to go into closed session if confidential matters need to be discussed, said the STL statement. The hearings can be followed live on the STL website in Arabic. English and French.

 

New TV S.A.L. and Khayat, the network’s deputy news and political program manager, are charged with “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by broadcasting and/or publishing information on purported confidential witnesses” and “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by failing to remove from al-Jadeed TV’s website and al-Jadeed TV’s YouTube channel information on purported confidential witnesses.” [Link]