"Marhaba Dawle" TV program aired on LBCI (Credit: LBCI)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese judiciary decided to dismiss the summons submitted by the Lebanese State against LBCI TV channel on Thursday night after the former filed a complaint earlier that day in protest against a program due to air on this channel called "Marhaba Dawle."
“Marhaba Dawle" is a weekly sitcom written and directed by Mohamad Dayekh. According to the station's website, the show "addresses, through the diaries of a group of security personnel in an imagined police station, the ambiguous relationship between the citizen and the state in a social and comedic form."
"After reviewing the current summons submitted by the Lebanese state/Ministry of Interior, represented by the head of the Cases Authority ... it was decided to reject the current summons," a statement published by Beirut urgent matters judge Carla Shawah reads.
Shawah listed many reasons in her statement to explain her decision. She said that the "transgression" mentioned by the State is just a possibility, as the government was not able to demonstrate this "transgression." She also said that "the program deals with issues that portray the Lebanese reality in a humorous framework" and "does not aim to infringe on the reputation of the Lebanese state or the morale of the Internal Security Forces."
She added, among other reasons, that "the request to completely prevent the broadcast of a television program constitutes an infringement on freedom of expression."
According to the text of the decision, the Lebanese state filed a complaint arguing that the "Marhaba Dawle" program "violates moral and ethical boundaries" and "offends the state and its institutions."
The complaint was submitted after the ISF asked the Ministry of Interior to act, claiming, according to a statement published by the security organization, that the channel "insulted national symbols, especially the Lebanese flag and the national anthem," and condemned the ISF by insulting its members.
The ISF also claimed that its members "felt extremely humiliated, and began to feel ashamed in front of their children and families, as [they called] the General Directorate ... urging us to stop this program."
Responding to the lawsuit, LBCI stated on Thursday that the problem lies not in the "Marhaba Dawle" program but in a "mentality that refuses to reform the state and people's affairs and objects to bringing humor into their homes."