France Surrenders to Palestinian Fraud
Charles Johnson
Thu Oct 19, 2006 at 7:58 am PDT • Views: 422
The French justice system is now complicit, with the despicable France 2 television channel, in the Mohammed al-Dura fraud: French TV station wins Palestinian boy libel case. (Hat tip: Ethel.)
PARIS (Reuters) - Broadcaster France 2 won a libel case on Thursday over accusations it faked a report into the killing of a Palestinian boy whose death in 2000 became a symbol of the uprising known as the second intifada.
The Court of First Instance in Paris ordered Philippe Karsenty, director of Media Ratings, a website that comments on the media, to pay France 2 and its Israel correspondent Charles Enderlin symbolic damages of one euro ($1.25) each.
“Hopefully this decision will end a campaign of defamation that is particularly dangerous because it affects those with a duty to inform the public,” Benedicte Amblard, lawyer for France 2, told reporters after the ruling.
The public sector station had said the case was a matter of principle and it had sought no more than symbolic damages.
Karsenty, who was also fined 1,000 euros and told to pay legal costs of 3,000 euros, said he would appeal the decision.
“It is a very somber day for France. The French justice system has validated a false report,” he told reporters after the decision. “We are going to appeal straight away. It is a very surprising judgment.”
Frank says: