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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon journalist faces trial for defaming Lahoud
2006-07-04
Guess we'd better hire a lawyer, we're next, though I didn't realize it was possible to defame Lahoud.
BEIRUT - A Lebanese investigative judge on Monday referred an anti-Syrian journalist and a former prominent diplomat for trial over a newspaper article he said defamed President Emile Lahoud, a staunch toady ally of Damascus.

Beirut judge Abdel-Rahim Hammoud said the charges against Fares Khashan were related to an article published in the newspaper Al Mustaqbal (The Future) on Feb. 24, which quoted disparaging remarks about Lahoud made by Johnny Abdou, a former military intelligence chief and ambassador to France.

The dailyÂ’s editor-in-charge, Tawfik Khattab, will also appear before BeirutÂ’s PublicationsÂ’ Court, Hammoud said in a statement faxed to Reuters. Al Mustaqbal is owned by the family of former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri, who was assassinated in a February 2005 bomb blast in Beirut.
That helps to make this clear.
Both Khashan and Abdou are abroad and are likely to stay there. If convicted, each could face up to two years in jail or a maximum fine of about $65,000.
Posted by:Steve White

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