Call to Suspend Application of This Article in the Media Law

The heads of the Press and Editors' Syndicates, Awni Al-Kaaki and Joseph Qusayfi, issued the following statement: "Our fears were realized early on, before the ink of the new media law had dried, with its initiation being used contrary to the intended direction. Article 104 opened the door to interpretation and jurisprudence to trap journalists and media workers, dragging them to police stations, unlike what happened until recently under Articles 28 and 29 of the previous Publications Law, where they appeared only before the civil investigating judge or the Publications Court. What we warned about happened to colleague Inas Al-Jarmaqani, a member of the Lebanese Editors' Syndicate registered on the syndical roster, who was summoned to the police station instead of appearing before the investigating judge in the lawsuit filed against her by 'Coral' company. With our great respect for the judiciary, its reference, and its authority to resolve any dispute brought to it, our concern for the dignity of the profession and good treatment of those working in it drives us to warn against the danger of using Article 104, which the Lebanese Press Union, comprising the two syndicates, demanded be amended to protect freedom and immunity for journalists and media workers performing their duties. Since the media law has become effective, its effectiveness does not justify circumventing it and resorting to Article 104, which exposes those working in the media body to imprisonment, for the purpose of preventing them from fulfilling their investigative role and expressing their opinion.

We demand the suspension of work on this article until the proposed amendments to the law are considered, aiming to remove custodial penalties and strike at the unity of the media body in Articles 104, 105, and 115 (Paragraph E).

We reject dragging journalists and media workers into investigations for publication violations, and we reject each time a dispute arises between a journalist or media worker and a public figure or commercial company, invoking dangerous rhetoric such as fabricating fake news, stirring sectarian tensions, and inciting sedition.

Finally, within this framework, we address the Prosecutor General to take all these facts into consideration, especially during this delicate transitional phase between old and new laws and proposed amendments, so that wisdom, objectivity, and patriotism characterize this stage.

We also rely on the Minister of Information, with whom we have positive cooperation, to act quickly, remedy the emerging gaps, and seek to address them with foresight and understanding so that freedom is protected and rights are preserved."