The Lebanese actor Asaad Rachdan. (Screenshot taken during his interview given to the platform Elsiyasa Plus shared on YouTube)
Lebanese actor Assaad Rachdan appeared Thursday before the criminal police following two complaints accusing him of exceeding the boundaries of political expression and making statements regarded as a form of "promotion of the Israeli enemy." He was released on bail after his interrogation.
According to a source close to the actor contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, the hearing "took place in a calm atmosphere." Both complaints were reviewed before Rachdan was released on bail by means of residence election.
The first complaint was filed by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), MP Gebran Bassil, who accused him of predominantly exceeding acceptable limits of political expression, following an X post by the actor in which he called Bassil "despicable." According to the same source, criminal police asked Rachdan to modify his message.
The second complaint was submitted by a lawyer affiliated with Hezbollah, regarding comments the actor made during an interview with the online platform Elsiyasa Plus two weeks ago.
Questioned about the death of a child killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, the actor said, "Children have also been killed in Israel," referring to the bloody attack by the Islamist movement Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
He added that Israel was "a state that knows how to protect its borders" and stated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "not a terrorist."
The complainant interpreted these remarks as a form of "promotion or justification of the Israeli enemy." Rachdan is expected to issue an explanatory statement soon to clarify his comments, which he claims were misinterpreted, according to the same source.
On Wednesday, following the actor's summons, the media office of the Lebanese Forces (LF) party condemned his questioning, considering that it happened "because of political positions expressing a cry of pain to defend a country and a people turned by 'the axis of resistance' into a scene of death, chaos, destruction and displacement."
The party stressed that Rachdan was "a free citizen committed to the freedom guaranteed by the Constitution," adding that "those who should be summoned instead are those who have confiscated the state’s decision-making and imposed various forms of intimidation on the Lebanese."
