HRW says recent actions by Lebanese authorities aim to silence free expression

Human Rights Watch (HRW), the international non-governmental organization, has denounced the Beirut Bar Association’s decision to “arbitrarily and unlawfully limit what lawyers can say in public.”   

This statement came after the Lebanese lawyer Nizar Saghieh, who heads the Legal Agenda, was threatened with getting sanctioned, including “possible disbarment” for speaking against the Beirut Bar Association’s decision.   

Since being approved in March, Saghieh has protested the decision publicly and was summoned by the council, an action which he believes may be in retaliation for his criticism.   

According to HRW, this action “comes amid an alarming series of actions by Lebanese authorities to muffle free expression.”   

Adding that these developments risk reducing Lebanon’s free expression, as the Lebanese face increasing deprivation amid the economic crisis, said HRW, adding that “Lebanese authorities, including the Beirut Bar Association and judiciary, should protect the right to free expression rather than limit it.”   

Previously, the General Directorate of State Security also summoned Jean Kassir, co-founder of Megaphone, in response to an online post titled “Lebanon ruled by fugitives from justice,” while  journalist Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of The Public Source, was summoned by the Cybercrimes Bureau for an article featuring the role of the Lebanese Forces in transporting toxic wastes into Lebanon in the 1980s.   

“Following protests and condemnation by Lebanese civil society organizations, the investigation against Kassir was dropped, and Bitar’s case was moved from the Cybercrime Bureau to the Publications Court, the court that should normally deal with such cases. That case remains pending,” said Human Rights Watch.