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Legal Action
March 5
Al-Diyar, LEGAL ACTION
Charles Ayyoub, Al-Diyar, LEGAL ACTION
Youssef Howeyyek, Al-Diyar, LEGAL ACTION
Elie Saliba, Al-Diyar, LEGAL ACTION
A Lebanese prosecutor charged the Beirut opposition newspaper Al-Diyar with libel in the first of six libel suits filed against the paper in March. The newspaper's editor in chief, Ayyoub; the director, Howeyyek; and a cartoonist, Saliba, were also charged in the case. The journalists were accused of "defaming and soiling the honor of the president of the republic and the government" in six articles and a cartoon that were critical of government officials. One of the articles discussed the political relationship between President Elias Hrawi and Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The cartoon satirized current members of the government, including the president. All three men face up to two years in prison and fines of up to 100 million Lebanese lira (US$60,000) for each charge if convicted. CPJ wrote to Prime Minister Hariri on Oct. 17, the eve of his visit to Washington to meet with President Clinton, and urged Hariri to drop the charges. The trials are slated to begin on May 22, 1997.
March 9
Henri Sfeir, Nida al-Watan, LEGAL ACTION
Elias Shahine, Nida al-Watan, LEGAL ACTION
Ronnie Alfa, Nida al-Watan, LEGAL ACTION
Prosecutors charged Sfeir, owner of the daily Nida al-Watan; editor Shahine; and reporter Alfa with slandering Islam and fanning sectarian strife in Lebanon for publishing an article on Islamic sectarianism.
December 23
Pierre Atallah, Al-Nahar, IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION
Atallah, an editor of the daily Al-Nahar, was arrested without warrant at his Beirut home during a wave of arrests against suspected Christian opposition figures that began after a van carrying Syrian workers was attacked by gunfire just north of Beirut on Dec. 18. The Ministry of Defense held him incommunicado for seven days until transferring his case to a military court for investigation into possible security crimes against the state. Lebanese government officials claimed that Atallah's arrest was not related to his journalistic work, but during the initial investigation, officials focused their questioning on a series of articles Atallah had written for Al-Nahar. These included two articles that contained interviews with former Christian militia leader Etienne Saqr, recently convicted by a Lebanese court of treason for his alleged collaboration with Israel's occupation army in south Lebanon. A third article reported on an incident in October 1996, during which the Lebanese army allegedly harassed a congregation of Christians and prevented them from entering a church in Beirut. On Dec. 31, CPJ wrote to Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, urging Atallah's release. He was released on Jan. 6, 1997, after posting bail of 7 million Lebanese lira (US$4,000). His case remains under investigation.
For more information contact mideastweb@cpj.org