Frenchman convicted of defamation in Mideast case

Frenchman convicted of defamation in Mideast case
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Summary Journalist had accused state TV of staging a video depicting a boy being killed by Israeli forces.

 

PARIS (AP) - A French media analyst has been convicted of defamation for accusing a state television network of staging a video that depicted a young boy being killed in a firefight between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces.


The footage more than a decade ago galvanized Palestinians and anti-Israeli sentiment in the Mideast.


A Paris court fined Philippe Karsenty 7,000 euros Wednesday in the defamation case filed by network France-2.


The footage broadcast on Sept. 30, 2000, showed the terrified boy, Mohammed al-Dura, and his father amid a furious exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip.


It then cut to the motionless boy slumped in his father s lap. The report blamed Israeli forces for the death.


Karsenty called the verdict "outrageous." A lawyer for France-2 said it was a victory for journalists.
 

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