(RSF/IFEX) – On 7 January 2003, RSF urged the new secretary-general of the Francophonie (the international organisation of French-speaking countries), former Senegalese president Abdou Diouf, to condemn the attacks on press freedom in Lebanon that have resulted from an outbreak of political score-settling. The organisation noted that since Lebanon hosted the Ninth Summit of the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 7 January 2003, RSF urged the new secretary-general of the Francophonie (the international organisation of French-speaking countries), former Senegalese president Abdou Diouf, to condemn the attacks on press freedom in Lebanon that have resulted from an outbreak of political score-settling.
The organisation noted that since Lebanon hosted the Ninth Summit of the Francophonie in October 2002, it is all the more important that the country be reminded of its commitments to freedom and legality, which until recently made it a democratic exception in the region.
In the past few months, Lebanese broadcast media have been hit by “political score-settling that would be almost laughable if press freedom was not the main victim of it,” RSF noted. President Emile Lahud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have recently been battling it out by shutting down television stations and making “intemperate remarks,” the organisation said.
The closure of the privately-owned station Murr Television (MTV) on 4 September drew broad national and international condemnation, but Hariri only added his voice to the criticism on 6 January, two days after Lahud ordered the reopening of another private station, New Television (NTV), which Hariri had ordered closed in late December because of his close ties to Saudi Arabia. Hariri is now expected to press Lahud to allow MTV to reopen.
The right of MTV and NTV viewers to be informed, along with the right of the two stations to exist and operate freely is “clearly unimportant to the Lebanese authorities,” RSF said. “This absurd situation demonstrates the politicians’ contempt for the independence of the courts, as well as their use of the media and press freedom in petty political manoeuvring,” the organisation added.
