Comedian Shaden Fakih on stage. (Credit: X/@SK_Eyes)
BEIRUT — Recent years have seen a surge in the prosecution of comedians by Lebanese authorities, posing a threat to freedom of expression in the country.
Since Wednesday, comedian Shaden Fakih has been at the heart of controversy following the online broadcast of a performance in which she evokes Islam. On Thursday, Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's highest Sunni religious authority, submitted a request for the opening of a judicial investigation against the young woman, accusing her of “blasphemy against God and the Prophet Mohammad."
This incident marks the most recent development in a succession of campaigns against comedians throughout the years. Here's a list of comedians who have been under legal scrutiny:
Edmond Haddad and Rawiya al-Shab
In 2011, Edmond Haddad and Rawiya al-Shab were "sentenced to one month in prison and a fine of LL200,000 for violations of ethics and aberrant behavior during an improvisational play in 2009," according to the Samir Kassir Foundation's 's SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom.
According to the sentence, Haddad "unzipped his pants and flashed his underwear as both he and Shab told lewd and political jokes."
In a video titled "the underwear that threatened national security," Haddad said, back in 2012, that the reason behind the sentence is that he is "a Lebanese actor who believes in freedom of expression and opinion."
Charbel Khalil
In February 2015, comedian Charbel Khalil appeared before a public prosecutor following complaints lodged against him by the mufti of the Republic Abdel-Latif Derian and by lawyer Tarek Chandab.
Khalil had posted a cartoon showing a woman in a suggestive pose on a bed, in front of a black banner similar to the one of the Islamic State group, which reads "Allahu Akbar." The image was captioned: "Jihad al-nikah" (sexual jihad). Khalil, affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement, is not a stand-up comedian but rather a writer and television director. He is also known for his anti-LGBT and anti-Syrian refugees comments.
Ziad Itani
In November 2017, satirical actor and playwright Ziad Itani was detained on charges of "collaborating and communicating with the Israeli enemy."
Around four months later, Itani was released without bail. Moreover, First Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghida issued arrest warrants for Lieutenant-Colonel Suzanne Hajj Hobeiche, a former head of the Anti-Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Bureau, and hacker Elie Ghabash on suspicion of fabricating the case against the actor.
Itani later accused Lebanon’s State Security of "forcibly disappearing and torturing him," according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Commenting on the case, HRW said that "Lebanese authorities should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of Itani’s allegations of forced disappearance and torture at the hands of State Security."
Hisham Haddad
In 2018, Lebanon's public prosecution filed a lawsuit against comedian Hisham Haddad after he mocked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Lebanese former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Future Movement Secretary General Ahmad Hariri in his show "Lahonwbas," aired on LBCI.
In the aforementioned episode, Haddad mocked psychic Michel Hayek's prediction that doctors would advise Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to “eat less fast food."
"With all that's going on in the region, he's advising him to eat less hamburgers? I advise him to stop the campaigns, the arrests, the military strikes," Haddad said in the episode.
In the next episode, he appeared in prison scrubs and sang sarcastically about the prosecutor who filed the lawsuit against him. Following that, the council of judges asked the Public Prosecutor's Office to “take the necessary steps to initiate public proceedings."
Toufic Braidi
Three years later, social media influencer and comedian Toufic Braidi said that his passport was taken away for “insulting the presidency.”
He added that General Security informed him that the allegation was related to a video he had circulated, joking about the limited number of countries Lebanese passport holders can access without a visa.
According to the comedian, General Security said that although his video made fun of the Lebanese passport, it insulted the presidency because the passport includes “the president’s stamp.”
Nour Hajjar
In August 2023, Lebanese comedian Nour Hajjar was questioned for 11 hours by the military police after a video of him was posted on the awk.word platform — a community of comedians — showing him on stage telling a joke about the Lebanese army.
In the video in question, Hajjar said: "Have you noticed that all [Toters' couriers] are in the army? Can you imagine if Israel strikes [Lebanon] and the whole army is at Toters? We'll see 30 mopeds arrive at the border! One rocket and we'll be splashing Israel with honey-mustard sauce."
Simultaneously. Hajjar was also the subject of a second request filed by a religious judge, Sheikh Wael Chbaro, due to a joke made by Hajjar five years earlier in which he made fun of his parents' behavior on religious occasions.
Shaden Fakih
In an excerpt filmed recently during a show in Beirut and shared on social media this week, Fakih compares certain Muslims to the “nouveau riche” and criticizes the way prayer is conducted as well as the behavior of certain religious dignitaries. “You get the impression that the Prophet took classes with [the Lebanese dance troupe] Caracalla,” said Shaden, who also recites passages from the Quran.
On Friday, the Shiite Supreme Council filed a complaint against Fakih following Dar al-Fatwa's request for the opening of a judicial investigation mentioned above.
In 2022, the artist was fined by the military court for “humiliating and damaging the reputation of the Internal Security Forces.” The young woman was prosecuted after publishing a comedy video in which she is seen calling the ISF and asking if they could deliver sanitary towels to her due to the restrictions imposed during the lockdown in the midst of the coronavirus in Lebanon.
