{"items":[{"item":{"name":"Antoine Youssef Ramia","status":"Released","date_from":"2010-06-28","date_to":"2010-07-02","background":"

On June 28, 2010, Lebanon arrested<\/a> three people for slandering<\/a> Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on his Facebook page<\/a>. Te incriminating Facebook posts seem to be taken down, but you can find copies of them on this forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mirza also issued a warrant for the arrest of a fourth Lebanese, Ahmed Ali Shuman, on the same charges.<\/p>\n

According to the AFP, The justice ministry said \u201cthe case met the requirements for a slander and defamation lawsuit\u201d, adding \u201cmedia freedom in Lebanon and any civilised country reaches its limits when the content is pure slander and aims at undermining the head of state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

They face up to two years in jail if convicted. The men were released on bail on July 2 pending further investigation.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/antoine-youssef-ramia","city":"Beirut","country":"Lebanon","lat":"33.888629","lon":"35.495479"}},{"item":{"name":"Khodor Salameh","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Salameh.jpg","status":"Threatened","date_from":"2010-03-17","date_to":"2010-03-17","blog_url":"http:\/\/jou3an.wordpress.com\/","background":"

Khodor Salameh is a Lebanese journalist and blogger. He was interrogated after publishing a post criticizing the Lebanese president and the Lebanese security forces demanded that he changes his tone, close his blog, or write poetry exclusively. He was threatened with being prosecuted for defamation.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/khodor-salameh","city":"Beirut","country":"Lebanon","lat":"33.889227","lon":"35.493393"}},{"item":{"name":"Mario Malkoun","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/mario.jpg","status":"Threatened","date_from":"2010-07-16","date_to":"2010-07-16","background":"

The Lebanese facebook user Mario Malkoun, from the Lebanese Forces<\/a>, has been held <\/a> for about five hours<\/a> by the Military Security Services in the city of Tripoli for posting critical articles and comments on his facebook page.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/mario-malkoun","city":"Tripoli","country":"Lebanon","lat":"34.433333","lon":"35.850000"}},{"item":{"name":"Naim George Hanna","status":"Released","date_from":"2010-06-28","date_to":"2010-07-02","background":"

On June 28, 2010, Lebanon arrested<\/a> three people for slandering<\/a> Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on his Facebook page<\/a>. Te incriminating Facebook posts seem to be taken down, but you can find copies of them on this forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mirza also issued a warrant for the arrest of a fourth Lebanese, Ahmed Ali Shuman, on the same charges.<\/p>\n

According to the AFP, The justice ministry said \u201cthe case met the requirements for a slander and defamation lawsuit\u201d, adding \u201cmedia freedom in Lebanon and any civilised country reaches its limits when the content is pure slander and aims at undermining the head of state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

They face up to two years in jail if convicted. The men were released on bail on July 2 pending further investigation.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/naim-george-hanna","city":"Beirut","country":"Lebanon","lat":"33.888629","lon":"35.495479"}},{"item":{"name":"Shebel Rajeh Qasab","status":"Released","date_from":"2010-06-28","date_to":"2010-07-02","background":"

On June 28, 2010, Lebanon arrested<\/a> three people for slandering<\/a> Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on his Facebook page<\/a>. Te incriminating Facebook posts seem to be taken down, but you can find copies of them on this forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mirza also issued a warrant for the arrest of a fourth Lebanese, Ahmed Ali Shuman, on the same charges.<\/p>\n

According to the AFP, The justice ministry said \u201cthe case met the requirements for a slander and defamation lawsuit\u201d, adding \u201cmedia freedom in Lebanon and any civilised country reaches its limits when the content is pure slander and aims at undermining the head of state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

They face up to two years in jail if convicted. The men were released on bail on July 2 pending further investigation.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/shebel-rajeh-qasab","city":"Beirut","country":"Lebanon","lat":"33.888629","lon":"35.495479"}}]}