ALGERIAN JOURNALISTS GUILTY OF DEFAMING QADHAFI

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000465 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO AG LY SUBJECT: ALGERIAN JOURNALISTS GUILTY OF DEFAMING QADHAFI BUT SENTENCE SUSPENDED REF: A. 06 ALGIERS 1940 ¶B. 06 ALGIERS 2087 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Thomas F. Daughton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) Ruling after a rehearing of the case, on April 4 an Algiers court found editor Ali Fodil and reporter Naila Berahal of the Arabic-language daily Echourouk El-Youmi guilty of defaming Libyan President Moammar Qadhafi and gave each a six-month suspended sentence. The court also fined the newspaper 50,000 dinars (approximately $715) but did not order it to close, as the prosecution had requested. The trial court's original sentence called for two to six months in prison for each defendant and a two-month suspension of the paper (ref A). Lawyers for Fodil and Berahal plan to appeal the April 4 verdict. ¶2. (C) Comment: Embassy poloff was the only foreign diplomat at the April 4 court session. A PD FSN sent to the March 21 rehearing reported that the judge refused to hear several defense witnesses and dyspeptically asked why Echourouk's editor did not "check" before the paper ran the Qadhafi stories. It is not clear whether the judge's hostility was personal or a reflection of official displeasure. Either way, the reduced sentence is both a victory of sorts for Fodil and Berahal and a face-saving out for the GOA with Qadhafi. DAUGHTON