Three people have been arrested and search warrants were issued for a few more for insulting the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on Facebook!
Lebanon is supposedly a democracy, which respects freedom of speech. Naturally, this little country is still far away from what the French or Americans are accustomed to in that perspective, with frequent disapprovals of their respective presidents spiced with blunt criticism and cynical caricatures. But then again, Helene Thomas lost her job and reputation for speaking her mind in the USA, so perhaps there is no such thing as freedom of speech to begin with. See also CNN fires Octavia Nasr.
Commenting on the arrests of those charged with defaming the president on Facebook, Michel Suleiman said: “Freedom of speech should not clash with public morals…swearing at the president of the republic is punishable under the law because it targets the president….This is a misuse of freedom, and shameful things were said about me”
The three Lebanese young men are: Naim George Hanna (27 year old), Antoine Youssef Ramia (29 years old), and Shebel Rajeh Qasab (27years old). The three are currently held in custody and a search is on for yet a fourth person from the same facebook group.
It was reported that Michel Suleiman aimed to merely teach the youth a lesson. So did it work? Hardly! More and more people are rallying to denounce what they are calling a non democratic action. On Friday the 2nd of July, a large manifestation is also expected to be organized for the same purpose.
This came as a shock to the Lebanese people who often looked down on other neighboring Arab countries, which were often portrayed as dictatorships ran by conceited ignorant Kings who held their people on a tight leash.
It is good to note that MP Ibrahim Kanaan told LBCI on Tuesday 29th of June 2010 that arresting those 3 Lebanese for insulting the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on Facebook is not legally justified nor should it have happened in this way.
After this recent incident, many websites and Lebanese political forums were unfortunately shut down by their owners to protect their members. The Tayyar el Watani el Hour (Aounist party) forum was one of them. The following message is currently posted on their webpage:
“After the recent arrests targeting activists on Facebook expressing their basic right in Free Speech and in order to protect all the individuals who have been posting on the Forum for years, The Orange Room will be closed until further notice.”
In a similar incident on the 10th of November 2009, Lebanese journalist Simon Abou Fadel, who works with Al Kalima newspaper, got charged for insulting the president after criticizing his role during a political talk-show which aired on Murr Television – MTV, on Wednesday the 4th of November 2009.
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