NOVANEWS
| The Daily Star |
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| PSP leader Walid Jumblatt drives his car in Beirut. (The Daily Star/File/Mahmoud Kheir) |
| BEIRUT: A Syrian court issued legal notices against PSP leader Walid Jumblatt and Lebanese journalist Fares Khashan, accusing them of undermining the prestige of the state, a report said Thursday. |
The local LBCI television channel said the Lebanese Foreign Ministry had received the notices from the Criminal Court in Latakia. However, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement denying that it had received any summonses from Syria for the two.
The lawsuit dates back to 2006, when Syria’s military court filed a lawsuit against Jumblatt and “others revealed by the investigation,” accusing the defendants of “defaming” Damascus by blaming it for the series of bombings and assassinations in Lebanon in 2005.
At the time, there were warrants out for Jumblatt, Khashan and MP Marwan Hamade.
A judicial source told The Daily Star that any notices would be ineffective in practice, given the parliamentary immunity Jumblatt enjoys and Khashan’s absence from the country. Khashan is a Paris-based reporter for the local newspaper Al-Mustaqbal.
The lawsuit dates back to 2006, when Syria’s military court filed a lawsuit against Jumblatt and “others revealed by the investigation,” accusing the defendants of “defaming” Damascus by blaming it for the series of bombings and assassinations in Lebanon in 2005.
At the time, there were warrants out for Jumblatt, Khashan and MP Marwan Hamade.
A judicial source told The Daily Star that any notices would be ineffective in practice, given the parliamentary immunity Jumblatt enjoys and Khashan’s absence from the country. Khashan is a Paris-based reporter for the local newspaper Al-Mustaqbal.
