Jamal Hajjar files defamation complaint against MTV and Nida’ el-Watan

The public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar, filed a defamation complaint Wednesday against MTV and the daily Nida’ al-Watan.

The information was confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour by a judicial source, who specified that the case has been referred to the deputy public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Rami al-Hajj, for investigation.

MTV and Nida’ al-Watan made strong statements against the magistrate on Tuesday and Wednesday, following his decision on Tuesday to dismiss requests to open a judicial investigation, submitted by MTV and Electricité du Liban (EDL) in August and October respectively.

These complaints targeted the Middle East Power (MEP) company, responsible for maintaining the Zouk (Kesrouan) and Jiyeh (Chouf) power plants. In their legal filings, MTV and EDL accused this company, 85% owned by Karim Khayat, son of al-Jadeed channel owner Tahsin Khayat, of "forgery of documents and embezzlement of public funds."

For memory

Jiyyeh, Zouk power plants: Karim Khayat under judicial supervision for falsification, embezzlement

The campaign led by MTV and Nida’ al-Watan prompted the Higher Judicial Council (CSM) on Wednesday morning to publish a statement indicating it had decided to ask the Court of Cassation to initiate proceedings for "violating the rules in comments on judicial decisions, judgments, and measures," without specifying which parties were targeted.

The CSM statement regretted "defamatory or aggressive remarks against the independent judicial authority, which enjoys the trust of citizens and litigants," referring to comments made Tuesday evening in MTV’s newscast and in an article published Wednesday in Nida’ el-Watan.

This article argues that Judge Hajjar accepted "good faith" in the alleged offenses. It criticizes this interpretation and the decision to archive the case, seeing in it a "political dimension," while, according to Nida’ el-Watan, the complaints from EDL and MTV "contain irrefutable evidence justifying the opening of a trial, not archiving, for the theft of tens of millions of dollars and for the dysfunctions caused at EDL’s facilities."

The CSM also calls for refraining from attacking the judiciary "for personal purposes or interests, when a decision, judgment, or measure runs contrary to the interest of a litigant." More generally, it insists on the necessity "to make use of the many legal avenues available to complain about what one considers harmful."

In their judicial complaints, EDL and MTV accused MEP of, among other things, submitting false documents and reports to obtain payment of several million dollars, while Khayat denounced a media campaign orchestrated by the public provider to exclude him from future contracts.

Last January, the chief prosecutor questioned Khayat and decided to keep him under judicial supervision and ban him from leaving the country. He also heard testimony from an executive at MEP, Yehya Mawloud, as well as the general director of EDL, Kamal Hayek.