Journalist Ali Berro, from the al-Manar channel. (Credit: @alyberro / Instagram)
The Beirut indictment chamber, presided over by Judge Kamal Nassar, has decided to release journalist Ali Berro on bail , from the al-Manar channel. He was detained on March 6 after making offensive and threatening remarks against President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, according to a judicial source contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour and the National News Agency (NNA).
The bail was set at 100 million Lebanese Lira, or $1,120, which was paid by the journalist's lawyer. The decision to release Mr. Berro was taken by a majority of two out of three members of the indictment chamber. According to our information, Judge Roland Chartouni, who opposed the release, voiced his disagreement due to the nature of the offense (notably the threats against officials) and the very short duration — 20 days — of his detention.
This release was granted following an appeal filed by Ali Berro last week against a decision by Beirut’s first investigating judge, Rola Osman, to deny his request for release and uphold the charges of defamation, insult and threats against him, while issuing a dismissal for charges of undermining state prestige and inciting confessional strife. This marks a significant distinction between misdemeanors and felonies: misdemeanors are referred to a single criminal judge, while felonies go to the criminal court, where sentences are generally heavier.
Judge Osman then referred Ali Berro to the single criminal judge of Beirut, before whom he will have to appear when summoned.
Known for his provocative remarks, Mr. Berro posted a video on Instagram in January, two months before the Israeli offensive on Lebanon, filmed on the road leading to the Baabda presidential palace. In it, he aggressively called on residents of the South, whose homes were destroyed by Israeli bombardments during the previous offensive against Hezbollah in 2023-2024, to “settle in the Baabda palace,” even going so far as to say that it “needed a bit of cleaning.”
More recently, after the Cabinet’s decision on disarming Hezbollah, the journalist called the government a “government of dogs.” He threatened the ministers, the prime minister and the president that he would “remove their souls” if they wanted to “remove the weapons” from the Shiite party.
