Summary

TAPE_NUMBER: EF99/0913 IN_TIME: 15:32:24 (also see top of shotlist) LENGTH: 02:31 SOURCES: APTN RESTRICTIONS: No Access Internet FEED: VARIOUS (THE ABOVE TIME-CODE IS TIME-OF-DAY) SCRIPT: Eng/French/Nat The state prosecutor's office in France says it can't find anything to prove that photographers chasing Princess Diana were directly responsible for the fatal car crash that followed. It is recommending that the investigating judge, Herve Stephan, dismiss the charges against the nine photographers and a press motorcyclist implicated in the crash. The French state prosecution office has found that the investigation into the car crash that killed Princess Diana did not establish a "direct cause and effect" between the chasing photographers and the driver losing control of the car. In a statement released on Tuesday, the office says that it was the loss of control by the driver that appears to have been the "decisive cause of the accident". It is recommending that the investigating judge, Herve Stephan, dismiss the charges. Stephan, however, is not obliged to act on the recommendation. The photographers were placed under investigation shortly after the crash on August 31 in 1997 which killed Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul. Only Diana's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived. The lawyer representing two of the photographers stressed that, no matter how the photographers' actions are viewed by the outside world, it is how their actions are interpreted by the law that matters in the courtroom. SOUNDBITE: (French) "It is obvious that the photographers are waiting to be acquitted. If their behaviour is morally reprehensible, in the legal sense it is clear that it is not." SUPER CAPTION: Virginie Bardes, Defence lawyer The photographers and the motorcyclist had all been placed under formal investigation for manslaughter and failing to assist people in danger. Under French law being placed under formal investigation is one step short of being formally charged. But the prosecutor's office said nothing indicated that any of the 10 who reached the scene shortly after the accident were guilty of not helping the crash victims. The lawyer representing Diana's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was not surprised by the recommendations of the prosecutor's office. SOUNDBITE: (English) "It is not a surprise for me that the prosecution office requested to drop the charges, it is probably the result of certain amount of months of thought, and it explains why our complaint against the Ritz hotel and Etoile Limousine was not very much in favour of the prosecutions office. In deed if they wanted to drop charges against anyone and if no trial was to be organised against anyone then of course they did not want a trial against the hotel alone. So it's not a surprise but its not yet finished, since the examining magistrate has to decide, in the end what to do." SUPER CAPTION: Maitre Curtil, Lawyer representing Trevor Rees-Jones Judge Stephan handed the case over to the state prosecutor earlier this summer for a recommendation on whether to bring charges. It is expected Stephan will announce the end of the two-year investigation soon. He will then determine whether to proceed or dismiss with charges against the ten suspects. SHOTLIST: xfa ALSORAN ON: 1930-2000 Asia Pacific Early, 2015 2030 North America Late Paris, France - 17 August 1999 and FILE Pont de l'Alma, Paris - FILE, August 31 1997 1. Various file of the crashed Mercedes 2. Police car with arrested photographers inside leaving the scene Paris - 17 August 1999 3. Various exterior Palais de Justice 4. SOUNDBITE: (French) Virginie Bardes, Lawyer Pont de l'Alma, Paris - FILE 5. Judges investigating the scene of the crash under Pont de l'Alma 6. Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones getting out at the Palais de Justice with lawyer Paris - 17 August 1999 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Maitre Curtil, Lawyer representing Trevor Rees-Jones Paris - FILE 8. Exterior Ritz hotel 9. Mohamed Al Fayed outside Palais de Justice 10. Statue (flame) at the Pont de l'Alma?