(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 12 April 2001 letter to Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, CPJ expressed its deep concern about his government’s ongoing harassment of Samir Qassir, a journalist who writes for the Beirut daily “Al-Nahar”. On 28 March, Lebanese security authorities seized Qassir’s passport at Beirut Airport upon his arrival from Amman, where he had […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 12 April 2001 letter to Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, CPJ expressed its deep concern about his government’s ongoing harassment of Samir Qassir, a journalist who writes for the Beirut daily “Al-Nahar”.
On 28 March, Lebanese security authorities seized Qassir’s passport at Beirut Airport upon his arrival from Amman, where he had been covering the Arab summit. The authorities told Qassir, who is a Lebanese citizen born of naturalized Lebanese parents, that they wished to verify the passport’s validity.
Although Qassir’s passport was returned on 11 April, authorities warned that his case was still under investigation. According to CPJâs sources in Beirut, security agents have been trailing Qassir for the past several days.
CPJ believes that Qassir is being harassed in response to his journalistic work, in particular a 16 March editorial that strongly criticized the Lebanese armed forces and security services.
CPJ last wrote to President Lahoud on 7 July 2000, expressing similar concern about the case of Raghida Dergham, the New York bureau chief for the London-based daily “Al-Hayat”. Dergham’s passport was cancelled on arrival at Beirut Airport on 19 June (see IFEX alert of 10 July 2000).
Lebanese authorities claimed that Dergham violated Lebanese law by participating in a Washington, D.C. discussion panel that also included an Israeli official. It was widely believed, however, that President Lahoudâs government acted in reprisal for Dergham’s critical reporting on Lebanon’s dispute with the United Nations over the demarcation of the Lebanese-Israeli border. (Dergham’s passport was returned in late July.)
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
- calling on the Lebanese government to cease its unjustified harassment of Qassir
Appeals To
His Excellency Emile Lahoud
President of the Republic of Lebanon
c/o His Excellency Dr. Farid Abboud Embassy of Lebanon
2560 28th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Fax: +1 202 939 6324
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