Diana Crash Photographers Fined

A Paris court has fined press photographers a symbolic one Euro each for invasion of privacy on the night that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were killed in a car crash while being pursued by paparazzi in 1997.

Three photographers - Jacques Langevin, Christian Martinez and Eric Chassery- were acquitted in 2003 of invading Princess Diana’s privacy by taking pictures of the couple on the night they died. The three men were originally among nine photographers investigated on manslaughter charges which were dropped.

Their acquittal in 2003 came after a civil suit filed by Mr. Al Fayed’s father, Mohammed Al Fayed who said that under privacy laws, the pictures should never have been taken.

Following an appeal from the Harrods owner, a partial retrial was ordered on the basis of the possible breach of privacy laws by the three photographers, who were among the paparazzi following the couple after they left the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

But a disagreement in French law as to whether Princess Diana and Mr. Al Fayed’s crashed vehicle was a private space or not saw the case sent back to court.

In September 2004, the Paris appeals’ court had found that a crashed vehicle on a public highway was not in a private area. But France’s highest court disagreed and ordered a review the decision relating to the car, saying the Mercedes should have been considered a private space.

As a result the three photographers were fined the symbolic one Euro sum each on Friday, a ruling that was not made public until today. They were also ordered to pay for the announcement of the convictions in three newspapers or magazines.

The main investigation on the causes of the accident was closed in 2002, putting an end to formal manslaughter inquiries brought against the nine photographers and a press motorcyclist.