Diana paparazzi await verdict

By Caroline Wyatt
BBC Paris correspondent

A court in Paris is due to give its verdict in the trial of three photographers accused of breaching the country's strict privacy rules by photographing Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed on the night of their fatal car crash six years ago.

The three photographers - Jacques Langevin of the Sygma/Corbis agency, Christian Martinez of the Angelis agency and freelancer Eric Chassery - were among eight paparazzi who followed Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed the night they died in a Paris underpass.

Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed

This trial is the result of a civil suit filed by Dodi's father, Mohammed Al Fayed.

He claims that under French privacy laws, the photographs of the princess and his son on 31 August 1997, should never have been taken.

A case brought by a French celebrity a few years ago established the legal precedent that a car could be considered a private space, meaning that the paparazzi should have asked permission before taking the photos.

However, lawyers for the three men argued in court that both Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed had actively courted publicity at times, with their friends sometimes tipping off the press as to their whereabouts.

The defence also pointed out that the photos in question had never been published.

Against that, Mr Al Fayed's lawyer argued that the photographers' pursuit of lucrative images of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed amounted to nothing less than a manhunt.

He has asked the court to send a signal limiting the freedom of the paparazzi and asking for the three photographers to be fined a symbolic one Euro each in damages.