3 men arrested for slandering Suleiman freed on bail

July 2, 2010 ⋅ 2:09 pm ⋅ Post a comment

Filed Under freedom of speech, Lebanon, Suleiman

The three Lebanese men that were arrested for slandering President Michel Suleiman on the social networking website Facebook were released on bail on Friday.

Military Investigative Judge Ghassan Owaidat released Naim Hanna, 27, Antoine Ramia, 29, and Shebel Qasab, 27 on a LL100,000 bail each ($66).

The 3 men were arrested on Monday after authorities interrogated them on charges of libel, slander and defamation against the president on Facebook.

The three men will be tried later in Beirut by the relevant judge.

The justice ministry had said the case met the requirements for a slander and defamation lawsuit, adding media freedom in Lebanon and any civilized country reaches its limits when the content is pure slander and aims at undermining the head of state.

The arrest of the 3 men caused an outrage in Lebanon. Many attributed the arrests to increased Syrian influence. One of Ya Libnan readers wrote: “I guess this is one of the 15 agreements signed with Syria last week.” Other readers wrote the arrests “violate the constitution which protects the freedom of speech”. Many politicians criticized the arrests and called for the immediate release of the 3 men.

Discussion

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Walid Khouri

Can anyone fish out what was said by those men so we decide whether it constitutes libel and slandering?
Libel or slander is defined (usually) to be a public statement which is FALSE and that the person in question (in this case the president) should file a lawsuit against those individuals proving that what was said is not true. Suppressing people from voicing their opinions is not to be tolerated.
Also, for authorities to be evenhanded it is required for them to indict anyone, including politicians, making negative statements like Wiam Wahab attacking the President and calling on him to resign for failing to govern the country.
But in Lebanon, as we know, nees be zayt wu nees be samne…
Walid Khouri

Can anyone fish out what was said by those men so we decide whether it constitutes libel and slandering?
Libel or slander is defined (usually) to be a public statement which is FALSE and that the person in question (in this case the president) should file a lawsuit against those individuals proving that what was said is not true. Suppressing people from voicing their opinions is not to be tolerated.
Also, for authorities to be evenhanded it is required for them to indict anyone, including politicians, making negative statements like Wiam Wahab attacking the President and calling on him to resign for failing to govern the country.
But in Lebanon, as we know, nees be zayt wu nees be samne…
Ali

Agree,But why doesn’t the authority arrest jumblatt for what he said about syria’s assad, calling him a snake, a little man….The authority can only go after the poor old citizen.
Ali

Agree,But why doesn’t the authority arrest jumblatt for what he said about syria’s assad, calling him a snake, a little man….The authority can only go after the poor old citizen.
Tony Smith

Iam with freedom of speech and no one should be arrested for that reason but let us get serious now do we really have to get on face book and insult our leaders no matter how bad we think they are??
Tony Smith

Iam with freedom of speech and no one should be arrested for that reason but let us get serious now do we really have to get on face book and insult our leaders no matter how bad we think they are??
Tarie Al Fanarie

Good one Ali! But may I add he called him also Ya Kurd..He insulted his family i would rightfully do so if he his father was responsible for sending his troops to kill Jumblatt. Jumblatt is a sly devil and do not care what people think of him. He switches sides when the tides moves against him. Anyway i am glad these guys are freed and hopefully the politicians in Lebanon will be more tolerant. Now let’s hope the same people who fought for them to be released will also fight hezbollah supporters every time someone joke and not even insult just joke about him they burn the streets and gun down people. If he’s the messiah then let’s ask the Pope or the grandollah to make him so! Lol
Tarie Al Fanarie

Good one Ali! But may I add he called him also Ya Kurd..He insulted his family i would rightfully do so if he his father was responsible for sending his troops to kill Jumblatt. Jumblatt is a sly devil and do not care what people think of him. He switches sides when the tides moves against him. Anyway i am glad these guys are freed and hopefully the politicians in Lebanon will be more tolerant. Now let’s hope the same people who fought for them to be released will also fight hezbollah supporters every time someone joke and not even insult just joke about him they burn the streets and gun down people. If he’s the messiah then let’s ask the Pope or the grandollah to make him so! Lol
Leb-Syrian

Maria, shoofi!!! you made the article!! haha your famous in “The Libon” now—— One of Ya Libnan readers wrote: “I guess this is one of the 15 agreements signed with Syria last week.”
Leb-Syrian

Maria, shoofi!!! you made the article!! haha your famous in “The Libon” now—— One of Ya Libnan readers wrote: “I guess this is one of the 15 agreements signed with Syria last week.”
Ali

Tarie, I mentioned jumblatt not because of my love to him or assad. I used it as an example to show the weakness of our system in Lebanon. My dad a 75 year old man spent 10 months in jail because he got a judgment against a dirty, crook and scumbag lebanese man who has ties to some high level politicians in the country. They pick him up in the middle of the night and threw his ass in jail with no explanation. Our lawyers were not allowed to see him for 96 hours. We actually had to pay the authority to allow us access. While in prison, my dad was given access to a telephone, for daily conversation at a price, we were paying. Come to find out every one was in it, we paid the prison chief, so they can listen to the conversation and to circumvent the litigious process. Here where the judicial system worked, the laws of the jungle and the thugs had prevailed. Go figure.
Ali

Tarie, I mentioned jumblatt not because of my love to him or assad. I used it as an example to show the weakness of our system in Lebanon. My dad a 75 year old man spent 10 months in jail because he got a judgment against a dirty, crook and scumbag lebanese man who has ties to some high level politicians in the country. They pick him up in the middle of the night and threw his ass in jail with no explanation. Our lawyers were not allowed to see him for 96 hours. We actually had to pay the authority to allow us access. While in prison, my dad was given access to a telephone, for daily conversation at a price, we were paying. Come to find out every one was in it, we paid the prison chief, so they can listen to the conversation and to circumvent the litigious process. Here where the judicial system worked, the laws of the jungle and the thugs had prevailed. Go figure.
Maria

lol ya i wrote that last week on the guys that defamed the prez lol

Im glad you got a laugh out of it!

cheers buddy!
Maria

lol ya i wrote that last week on the guys that defamed the prez lol

Im glad you got a laugh out of it!

cheers buddy!
Leb-Syrian

Cheers to you as well!! Happy 4th of July, (that is if u live in the US), and if not have a great weekend!
Leb-Syrian

Cheers to you as well!! Happy 4th of July, (that is if u live in the US), and if not have a great weekend!
Maria

Leb+Syrian, Im north of the border to you but have a happy 4th of july and great weekend too!
Maria

Leb+Syrian, Im north of the border to you but have a happy 4th of july and great weekend too!

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