Full Support To Dima Sadek: In occupied Lebanon, there is no respect for freedom of opinion
Elias Bejjani/July 11/2023
Full support Dima Sadiq in facing an unfair court ruling issued against her on charges of slander and defamation submitted by Gebran Bassil and his pro Iranian political party. The judicial ruling issued against her (a year in prison and a fine) is unfair, unjust, illegal and issued by an authority without jurisdiction. This heretical judicial insult is extremely dangerous, and that is why it is the duty of every free, sovereign and independent Lebanese in Lebanon and the Diaspora to denounce and condemn it and do everything in his/her power to nullify it… Loudly we say no to the suppression of freedoms and to malicious, selective and illegal encroachment on media professionals and journalists.
كل التضامن مع الإعلامية ديما صادق: في لبنان المحتل لا احترام لحرية الرأي ولا لأصحابه ولا لحاملين راياته
الياس بجاني/11 تموز/2023
كل التضامن مع الإعلامية ديما صادق بمواجهة حكم قضائي جائر صادر بحقها على خلفية تهم قدح وذم مقدمة من جبران باسيل وشركة حزبه الملالوي. الحكم القضائي الذي صدر بحقها (سنة سجن وغرامة مالية) هو مجحف وظالم وغير قانوني وصادر عن جهة غير ذات اختصاص. هذا التطاول القضائي الهرطقي هو خطير للغاية، ولهذا من واجب كل حر وسيادي واستقلالي في لبنان وبلاد الإنتشار أن يستنكره ويدنه ويعمل كل ما بوسعه لإبطاله… ولا وألف لا لقمع الحريات وللتعدي الكيدي والإنتقائي واللا قانوني على الإعلاميين والصحافيين.
BACKGROUNG
Prominent Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek sentenced to one year in prison following Gebran Bassil’s libel lawsuit
The New Arab/July 11/2023
Dima Sadek, was imprisoned following a lawsuit filed against her three years ago by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement party, Gebran Bassil, who accused her of defamation. Prominent Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek has been sentenced to one year in prison as a result of a lawsuit filed against her by the Free Patriotic Movement President Gebran Bassil, reported L’Orient Le Jour on Tuesday.
Bassil accused the journalist of “defamation and libel” over three years ago after she denounced him for “incitement” and “racism”. The 43-year-old journalist revealed the outcome of the verdict in a video posted on Twitter, explaining that she was being imprisoned on grounds of “slander, defamation and promoting sectarianism” following remarks she made in February 2020 concerning two young men who were attacked in the southern northern city of Tripoli by men loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).
One man, Zakaria al-Masry, was beaten up and forced to say “Aoun is your God and the God of Tripoli”, in reference to ex-Lebanese president and former head of the FPM Michel Aoun.
Following the incident, which took place on 6 and 7 February 2020, Sadek described the actions as “racist and Nazi-like”. Sadek was also ordered by Judge Rosine Hojeili to pay a fine of 110 million Lebanese pounds ($7,316). The journalist is additionally expected to file an appeal against the ruling through her attorney Diala Shehadeh, said the Lebanese Megaphone news website. She further explained that the judiciary can incarcerate her at any time if she does not appeal. In the video, Sadek said that “the thugs” who were accused of beating the young men weren’t “tried, arrested and no one said anything to them”.
“But I, who condemned [all of this], which was spread all over social media, was sentenced yesterday to prison.”Sadek went on to say that this sets a “very dangerous precedent” on freedom of expression and media in Lebanon. She also alluded to the irony of being imprisoned for calling Gebran Bassil “racist”, when the politician himself has allegedly made similar claims about himself.
Sadek was previously subject to a lawsuit filed by scandal-hit Central Banker governor Riad Salameh – also in 2020 – after he sued her for “tarnishing the reputation of the banks and the prestige of the economy”.
