The courthouse building in Beirut. (Credit: PHB)
The Lebanese Editors' Syndicate issued a statement on Thursday in which it asked journalists to "know their rights and refuse to appear before any court other than that of the printed matter when the complaint against them is related to one of their publications." It added that it stands "with its colleagues to defend their freedom of expression, and refuses any indirect or direct attack on their person."
In its press release, the order deplored that "cases of prosecutions against journalists for matters related to their profession have been increasing in recent times," reaffirming the need to limit any complaints against them "to the printed matter tribunal alone," in accordance with the law.
The latest case is the summons of journalist Christiane Gemayel, founder and owner of the Lebtalks website, by the cybercrime bureau, based on a complaint by lawyers who are members of Amoualouna Lana ("Our Money is Ours," a group that claims to be dedicated to the cause of depositors in Lebanon). This summons caused an outcry in Lebanon, particularly from the law enforcement agency and several NGOs, and Gemayel did not appear at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 26.
"The Council of the Order refuses any summons of journalists, for complaints of defamation, before the office for the fight against cybercrime, before the judicial police or any other body, with the exception of the printed matter court," the text added. The order noted that the amendments to the printed matter law in 1994, in particular articles 28 and 29, prohibit the detention of journalists or the closure of media outlets.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.