Lebanon

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, RSF protested Israeli soldiers’ shooting at Lebanese journalists on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The organisation called on the prime minister to “ensure that an inquiry is immediately opened and the people responsible for this shooting are punished”. “This act is very […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 7 July 2000 letter to President Emile Lahoud, CPJ strongly protested the Lebanese authorities’ recent decision to annul the passport of Raghida Dergham, the New York bureau chief for the London-based daily “Al-Hayat” and a widely respected commentator on Arab affairs. On 19 June, Lebanese authorities seized Dergham’s Lebanese passport upon […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Interior Minister Michel El-Murr, RSF protested the seizure of the 29 June 2000 issue of the French news weekly “L’Express”. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked the minister “to do everything in his power to enable foreign newspapers to be sold freely in the country.” The organisation also pointed out […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Interior Minister Michel El-Murr, RSF expressed its surprise that “the dailies ‘Libération’, ‘Le Monde’ and ‘The International Herald Tribune’ were missing from Lebanese kiosks following the death of Syrian President Hafez el-Assad”. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked the minister “to do everything possible to ensure that foreign newspapers can […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 27 April 2000 Human Rights Watch press release: Free Speech Punished in Lebanon (New York, April 27, 2000) — Human Rights Watch today criticized the Lebanese government for suppressing peaceful anti-Syria protests in recent days. The largely student-led protests have called for the withdrawal of Syrian military and security […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Michel El-Murr, RSF protested “the attack on several journalists, including Ramzi Haïdar, a photographer with Agence France-Presse, and Hassan Mounla, a photographer with Associated Press, during a demonstration in Beirut on 17 March”. RSF asked the minister of the interior to “do everything he can […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: **Updates IFEX alert of 12 October 1999** TRIAL OF FAMOUS LEBANESE SINGER TO BEGIN Marcel Khalifa Faces Three Years in Prison (New York, November 2, 1999) — The criminal prosecution of the internationally known Lebanese singer and composer Marcel Khalifa is a blatant violation […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is an 8 October 1999 Human Rights Watch press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DROP LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST LEBANESE SINGER Marcel Khalifa Faces Three Years in Prison (New York, October 8, 1999) –Human Rights Watch today condemned efforts in Lebanon to prosecute the internationally known singer and composer Marcel Khalifa because one […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ has expressed grave concern about the case of Cosette Elias Ibrahim, a Lebanese journalism student and freelance reporter who was abducted by Israeli forces in the town of Rumaish in Israeli-occupied south Lebanon. **Updates IFEX alert of 14 September 1999** On or about 2 September 1999, Ibrahim, a student at the Lebanese […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss, RSF has expressed its concern about legal proceedings launched against individuals in charge of the daily newspaper “Al-Bayrak” and the magazine “The Lebanon Report”. Without commenting on the substance of the matter, RSF expressed “its concern about a procedure which might lead to the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Further to its 12 February 1999 letter, RSF is vigorously protesting the abduction of Mahmoud Jalloul, a cameraman with the official television station Télé Liban, on 11 February. **Updates IFEX alert of 12 February 1999** The Lebanese Security Services are allegedly implicated in this violation of the basic rights of every Lebanese citizen. […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a 12 February 1999 letter to the Prime Minister of Lebanon, RSF expressed concern at news of the abduction of a cameraman from the state television channel Télé-Liban. According to RSF’s information, on 11 February, Mahmoud Jalloul was abducted by unknown assailants, in front of his wife who was accompanying him to […]

(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 24 November 1998 WAN press release on the occasion of its Board meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 23 to 24 November: Beirut, Lebanon, 24 November 1998 For immediate release Publishers Ask Lebanese Prime Minister To Overturn Press Law The World Association of Newspapers (WAN), in a meeting with Lebanese Prime […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 24 July 1998, the Beirut military tribunal has sentenced Pierre Attalah, a journalist with “An-Nahar”, to three years in prison. He is accused of having “visited without permission an enemy country and having shown contempt for judicial and security authorities.” He must also pay a […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 23 February 1998, Judge Said Mirzaa charged Charles Ayyoub, the owner of “Al-Diyar”, and Youssef Howayyek, the paper’s director, with “defaming” President Elias Hrawi. The charge, filed under Decree 104 (1977), related to a column published in the 15 October 1997 edition entitled “Field of the Troika” in which Ayyoub stated that […]

During his tour of the Middle East, RSF has written to French President Jacques Chirac in order to draw his attention to the organisation’s concerns over the recent reorganisation of the broadcasting system in Lebanon. **Updates IFEX alert dated 19 September 1996** While RSF understands the Lebanese government’s wish to reorganise the broadcasting sector and […]