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Lebanese Press Freedoms in Danger as Independent Journalists Are Summoned for Questioning

Lebanese Press Freedoms in Danger as Independent Journalists Are Summoned for Questioning

A recent Lebanese campaign has targeted directors of independent news sources, worsening the situation in a country already ranked 130th out of 180 in the 2022 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index

[Beirut] Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary to Jean Kassir, director of the independent Lebanese news platform Megaphone News, when two men approached his car a few weeks ago. But he quickly realized that the men were plainclothes police officers, and they issued an unspecified summons for him to appear in court. Just a day later, Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of the investigative journalism outlet The Public Source, was summoned by the Anti-Cybercrime Bureau.

When news of the summonses spread, Lebanon’s journalism community rose in protest. Journalists from various media outlets gathered in front of the Beirut Justice Palace to show solidarity with their colleagues.

The international nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (known by its French abbreviation RSF) has closely followed the saga.

“We strongly condemn not just the summoning but also its message, which is extremely alarming because it’s a militia-like way of calling a journalist,” said Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East desk, in an interview with The Media Line.

“Journalists understand they are under surveillance all the time by having plainclothes state agents summoning them because the goal is to intimidate and scare them,” he added. “It sends a very important message to all other journalists in the country, so it has a drastic chilling effect in Lebanon.”

Megaphone News claimed that Kassir’s summons was retaliation for a social media post that described Ghassan Oueidat, prosecutor general of Lebanon’s Court of Cassation, as a “fugitive from justice.”

“Kassir was summoned by state security and not to the publications court. This fact includes a long list of violations of the law because we have a very clear conflict of interest and overreach of power by the prosecutor general, who cannot be both plaintiff and judge in this case,” Dagher said.

He also criticized the lack of “legal basis” in Kassir’s summons. “It is a clear attempt [by Oueidat] to avenge himself and to intimidate the journalists [out of speaking] any further in this case,” he added.

Bitar was summoned by the Anti-Cybercrime Bureau following a complaint by the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party and former militia, about an article describing alleged environmental crimes that the group committed during the Lebanese Civil War.

After pressure from the journalistic community, the summons for Kassir was suddenly dropped days after being issued. However, the campaign against journalists continues, with the co-founders of the watchdog group Legal Agenda and the Daraj Media news platform also affected.

“These actions tell us about a silencing aim by the authorities in the country,” said Doja Daoud, co-founder of the Alternative Press Syndicate, a union for Lebanese journalists, in an interview with The Media Line. “They are trying to kill the last source of not just news but also the analysis of it, its impact, and our efforts to defend freedoms and rights in the country.”

Lebanon was ranked 130th out of 180 countries in the 2022 RSF Press Freedom Index. According to a report from the Beirut-based Samir Kassir Foundation, there were more than 800 violations of freedom of expression and freedom of the press under the presidency of Michel Aoun, who ruled from 2016 to 2022. These violations ranged from threats and intimidation to assassination.

“Attacking heads or symbols can lead to journalists working in these outlets fearing intimidation, summons, and campaigns,” Daoud said. “This can also drive many journalists to self-censorship, leading to censoring certain topics and media in the long run. It can also mean that only establishment-affiliated media can operate, as it used to be after the civil war.”

Dagher emphasized the danger of working as a journalist in Lebanon, mentioning the assassination of Lokman Slim, the publisher, commentator, and activist, in February 2021. “To this day, we still don’t have a suspect, any results, or any serious progress in the investigation,” he said.

Daoud described the Alternative Press Syndicate as a way to represent and protect journalists, especially those who are more vulnerable because they are not associated with the parties in power.

“Today, the media is our only tool to uncover the truth, raise the people’s voices, and make information accessible for everyone,” she said. “Without journalism, Lebanon is just a failed country with militias controlling its people and pushing them to hate each other every single day.”

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