20 June 2015

BEIRUT: As her contempt case drew to a close, journalist Karma Khayat lambasted the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, claiming that the trial had wasted the time and resources of Lebanese people.

Khayat said that the amicus prosecutor, who was appointed by the court to litigate the case, succeeded in ... taking millions of dollars from the pockets of the Lebanese people.

Moreover, the prosecutor had succeeded in proving the hegemony of the Tribunal over Lebanese [sovereignty], she said in an impassioned speech at the end of her trial.

The tribunal, which is charged with bringing to justice those responsible for assassinating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, alleges that Khayat willfully attempted to interfere with the administration of justice when she oversaw the production of a TV series titled Witnesses of the STL which aired on Al-Jadeed TV in 2012. Khayat, who was the deputy head of news and political programs at Al-Jadeed TV in 2012, maintains that the series was intended to highlight leaks coming from the court.

The amicus prosecutor, Kenneth Scott, requested that Khayat face a maximum of two years imprisonment, to be served concurrently, and a 200,000 euro fine. Amicus also requested that Al-Jadeed TV be fined a maximum 6 million euros.

While Scott said that there was no evidence that any leaks had come from the court, Khayat suggested that was not the case.

Khayat noted that the amicus did not prove that the leaks didnt come from the tribunal, despite the fact that he objected more than 10 times whenever a witness spoke about the possibility of leaks from inside the tribunal.

Moreover, Khayat said that regardless of the verdict she and fellow journalists in Lebanon would continue to investigate and report on the tribunal.

We will not be silent. We will not step back. We will not be afraid of you. We will never, never stop. You will never be above the rights of the Lebanese people, Khayat said.

While the region is wracked with bloodshed and rampant human rights abuses, Khayat said the case against her was an empty file, in both form and content.

Instead of spending a year and a half working on such a trial, it would have been better for the Security Council, which created this tribunal, to make use of your long experience to defend more important and meaningful causes, Khayat said.

And that the 6 million euros which Mr. Scott asked us for [should rather] be paid to defend these children, she said, holding up posters of Palestinian children killed by Israel.

Over 30 seconds of her 10-minute speech were redacted from the public transmission of the proceedings.

While airing coverage of the days proceedings Friday evening, Al-Jadeed said that out of respect for the tribunal the station would not release publicly the redacted section of Khayats speech.

It is a very common practice in international courts to redact a part of the hearing when confidential information is made public, STL spokeswoman Wajed Ramadan told The Daily Star. I am afraid I cannot discuss the content of such information since it is classified.

While many journalists have rallied behind Khayat amid suggestions that the tribunal is attempting to censor Lebanese coverage of the proceedings, Ramadan said this case is not about going after journalists.

Ramadan said it would be improper for the STL to comment on the case. Judge Nicola Lettieri, who is presiding over the case, said it would take more or less two months for him to reach a decision.

Until then, we can only reiterate the presumption of innocence: The accused are innocent until proven guilty, Ramadan said.

Copyright The Daily Star 2015.