Princess Diana

The verdict upheld a November 2003 judgment clearing the photographers of the same charges.

The court ruled that the three had not captured any gestures on film at the Ritz Hotel that revealed aspects of Diana and her companion's, Dodi Fayed, private life, and that the couple's car could not be considered a private place after the crash.

Dodi al-Fayed

The judgment was a defeat for Mohamed al-Fayed, Dodi's millionaire Egyptian father, and for the state prosecutor's office, both of which had argued that the vehicle constituted a private space protected from the photographers' cameras.

The main investigation on the Aug. 31, 1997, accident was closed in April 2002, putting an end to formal manslaughter inquiries brought against nine photographers -- including the three judged Sept. 14 -- and a press motorcyclist.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 25, 2004
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