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Imprisoned
June 13
Ali Diya, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Al-Safir, Future Television, IMPRISONED
Diya, a Lebanese journalist and stringer for AFP, was summoned to the headquarters of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in the Israeli-occupied town of Marjayoun, Lebanon. The SLA, a pro-Israel militia, handed Diya over to Israeli soldiers, who took him to Israel. On June 18, a spokesman for the Israeli army said that Diya was being held and interrogated in Israel on suspicion of "aiding the [Lebanese] Shi'ite militia Hezbollah, and [he] may be charged with serious crimes." Diya, who is also a contributor to Beirut's Al-Safir newspaper and the Beirut-based Future Television, has reported on clashes between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon. CPJ, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denounced the Israeli army's abduction of Diya in Lebanon, calling it a violation of international law, and demanded that Israel release Diya. Diya was released on July 18.
For more information contact mideastweb@cpj.org