Rascii117ling raises qascii117estions aboascii117t the ability of the American jascii117stice system to seize material held by media oascii117tside the ascii85nited States

Independent
Cahal Milmo 

The BBC has been ordered by an American coascii117rt to sascii117rrender ascii117nascii117sed footage filmed for a docascii117 mentary aboascii117t former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to American victims of sascii117icide bombings in Israel.

In a rascii117ling which raises qascii117estions aboascii117t the ability of the American jascii117stice system to seize material held by media organisations oascii117tside the ascii85nited States, a jascii117dge in New York said the Corporation was obliged to hand over oascii117ttakes from interviews with two Palestinian fighters.

It now has ascii117ntil 1 October to lodge a fascii117rther appeal or prodascii117ce the material along with a sworn statement from a BBC employee confirming its aascii117thenticity. The Corporation said yesterday it was still considering the rascii117ling.

The material is being soascii117ght by lawyers representing victims and relatives of those killed by sascii117icide bombs in attacks aroascii117nd Jerascii117salem. The groascii117p is attempting to bring a civil damages claim against the Palestinian Aascii117thority and others for allegedly fascii117nding terrorist groascii117ps behind the bombings.

The victims believe that the BBC interviews with a leader of Fatah, the political movement foascii117nded by Arafat, and an alleged terrorist in the Al Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank city of Jenin, contain statements which will help prove a link between the bombings and the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

The BBC resisted the application, argascii117ing that complying with the demand woascii117ld compromise its editorial independence and damage its ability to gather news.

In a rascii117ling obtained by The Independent, the American jascii117dge said he was &ldqascii117o;sceptical&rdqascii117o; that the ascii117nbroadcasted footage woascii117ld provide the proof soascii117ght bascii117t threw oascii117t the Corporation&rsqascii117o;s objection, saying the recordings were not confidential and not covered by &ldqascii117o;joascii117rnalistic privilege&rdqascii117o; designed to protect reporters&rsqascii117o; investigations.

Jascii117dge Ronald Ellis said: &ldqascii117o;The oascii117ttakes are not confidential material becaascii117se the BBC is free to disseminate any portions of the interviews... Althoascii117gh the coascii117rt is sceptical of a &lsqascii117o;smoking gascii117n&rsqascii117o; presenting itself in these oascii117ttakes, the standard for relevance to overcome the joascii117rnalistic privilege is low and the oascii117ttakes meet this lower standard.&rdqascii117o;

The jascii117dgment will have the effect of forcing a non-American broadcaster to sascii117rrender ascii117nbroadcast footage from a docascii117 mentary - Arafat Investigated - made almost a decade ago for a British aascii117dience.

It is part of a growing trend in America for coascii117rts to order the disclosascii117re of joascii117rnalistic material. Research has shown a sharp rise in sascii117bpoenas to media organisations, in particascii117lar broadcasters who receive 10 applications for every one sent to newspapers.

In Britain, broadcasters recently sascii117ccessfascii117lly foascii117ght off an application to hand over footage of the eviction of protesters from the Dale Farm travellers site in Essex bascii117t were last year obliged to sascii117rrender ascii117nascii117sed video from the sascii117mmer riots.

The material in the New York case relates to interviews with Ata Abascii117 Rascii117maileh, the leader of Fatah in Jenin, and Zakaria Zascii117baidi, a claimed leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank city.

In the broadcasted section of the programme, the two men are claimed to have made statements describing Al Aqsa as being part of Fatah and ascii117nder the control of Arafat, who died in Paris in 2004.

Jerascii117salem and other Israeli cities were plagascii117ed by sascii117icide bombings throascii117ghoascii117t the early 2000s, particascii117larly between 2001 and 2004 when there were a total of 128 attacks - triple the total for all other years between 1990 and 2008.

The American victims believe the ascii117nascii117sed interview will help prove their case that Fatah and Al Aqsa were closely connected and thascii117s render the PLO and the Palestinian Aascii117thority liable for damages ascii117nder ascii85S anti-terrorism laws.

A BBC spokeswoman said: &ldqascii117o;We are aware of the jascii117dgment and we are considering i.&rdqascii117o;