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Charges against Tribune de Geneve journalist dismissed by judge

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The legal case opened Thursday 18 March between Hannibal Qadaffi, son of Libya’s leader, and canton Geneva plus the Tribune de Genève newspaper. The judge quickly dismissed charges against a journalist working for the Tribune who had approved but not selected the article and photograph, the newspaper reports. But swissinfo reports that Hannibal Qadaffi, who has asked for damages of CHF100,000, said Thursday evening he is no longer interested in the money: he wants an international tribunal to acquit him. Qadaffi was interviewed by news agency AFP.

A tribunal was agreed to by Switzerland and Libya shortly after the incident where Hannibal and his wife were charged in Geneva with abusing household servants during a stay in the city in July 2008. The court case was closed when the servants later dropped the charges. The two countries had agreed to each appoint an arbiter and the two justices would then appoint a third, but the third person was not appointed within the deadline period. Switzerland suspended the agreement when Libya refused to let two Swiss businessmen leave the country.

The Tribune Thursday called for the judge to separate the case against the canton, which is accused of dereliction of duty in letting a photo be leaked to the press, while the case against the Tribune, which, it argues, is about invasion of privacy.

Links to other sites: AFP interview, swissinfo, Tribune de Geneve