[JURIST] Lebanese journalist Karma Khayat was fined €10,000 Monday following her refusal to take down Internet videos made in 2012. The videos risked exposing [Reuters report] the identities of witnesses in the case of the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. Khayat had been ordered by the court to remove the video, but ignored the order. The UN backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s first judgment on the journalist’s case was handed down [JURIST report] earlier this month, finding her in contempt of court for not removing the 2012 broadcast. She was acquitted of the charge of publishing material exposing witnesses. Kayat argued that her conviction was an attack on freedom of the press.

In October 2013 the STL indicted [JURIST report] Hassan Merhi on charges including terrorism and intentional homicide in the attack. Merhi is charged with helping to create a video claiming false responsibility for the attack, the coordination of the video’s delivery, and conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act. Hezbollah has denied involvement [BBC report] in Hariri’s killing, refusing to extradite the first four suspects. In 2012 the STL confirmed its jurisdiction [JURIST report] over the trials of the alleged assassins. Earlier that year the STL upheld the decision to try the four accused in absentia, and their trial began [JURIST reports] in January 2014.