Antoine Youssef Ramia
Arrested between 28 Jun 2010 and 02 Jul 2010
On June 28, 2010, Lebanon arrested three people for slandering Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on his Facebook page. Te incriminating Facebook posts seem to be taken down, but you can find copies of them on this forum.
General prosecutor Said Mirza ordered the arrest of Naim George Hanna, 27, Antoine Youssef Ramia, 29, and Shebel Rajeh Qasab, 27, after authorities interrogated them on charges of libel, slander and defamation against the president on Facebook”.
Mirza also issued a warrant for the arrest of a fourth Lebanese, Ahmed Ali Shuman, on the same charges.
According to the AFP, The justice ministry said “the case met the requirements for a slander and defamation lawsuit”, adding “media freedom in Lebanon and any civilised country reaches its limits when the content is pure slander and aims at undermining the head of state.”
“The inappropriate comments published on websites are subject to prosecution and punishment as they meet the requirements for litigation as stipulated in the media law and penal code,” he said.
They face up to two years in jail if convicted. The men were released on bail on July 2 pending further investigation.
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