The Mauritian newspaper editor who was convicted on a charge of outrage to public and religious morality yesterday for publishing photographs of Michaela McAreavey’s body has been fined 50,000 rupees (€1,237).
Mauritian Sunday Times editor Imraan Hosany was facing a maximum sentence of two years in prison or a 100,000 rupee fine after magistrate Wendy Rangan handed down a guilty verdict at the Intermediate Court in Port Louis yesterday.
He was arrested and charged in July 2012 after the newspaper published images of Ms McAreavey’s body at the crime scene at Legends Hotel in Grand Gaube where she was killed.
Hosany’s lawyer Akil Bissesur has indicated his client would appeal the ruling. “My client has been found guilty and we respect this court ruling,” Mr Bissesur said. “I can tell you that my client will appeal against this judgment.”
The newspaper, which is not linked to the British and Irish publication of the same name, published the material shortly afterAvinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea, both employees at the hotel at the time of the murder, were cleared of killing Ms McAreavey.
The 27-year-old daughter of Co Tyrone football manager Mickey Harte was found dead in her hotel room in January 2011. She had been honeymooning in Grande Gaube, a fishing village in the north east of the country, with her husband, John.
The publication of the pictures was widely condemned both in Mauritius and Ireland due to their graphic nature and the effect they could have on the deceased's family members. The Irish Government made a formal complaint to Mauritius about the appearance of the images in a national newspaper.
Yesterday Ms Rangan ruled Hosany was guilty as charged, saying the publication of the images taken by police for the purposes of their investigation were not justified by any public interest, but rather were motivated by “sensationalism and profit”.
