Ya Libnan

Journalist tortured in custody in Lebanon

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A journalist working for several major international media publications was tortured for almost a month by Lebanese security forces, a media rights watchdog said on Tuesday.

Rami Aysha was arrested on August 30 and released on bail on September 27, after being held on unclear charges centred on alleged weapons-buying, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Aysha was carrying his camera and press card when he was kidnapped by armed men in south Beirut, where he was reporting on arms trafficking, the watchdog said.

“They took me to a nearby place where they put a pistol to my temple and asked me on which side I wanted the bullet,” Aysha said.

“They broke my camera on my head,” the RSF statement quoted the journalist as saying, adding that they also broke his finger. “I was sure they were going to kill me.”

Aysha was then turned over to the Lebanese intelligence service, RSF said.

“Still blindfolded, he was beaten by men who told him, ‘Fuck you, fuck journalism!’ From there, Aysha was transferred again, this time to the military police, where mistreatment continued,” RSF said.

“RSF expresses its outrage over the entire episode.

“The organisation demands that Lebanese authorities thoroughly investigate the mistreatment, punish those responsible, and withdraw all charges against Aysha.”

Another media rights watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists, reported last month that Aysha was first captured by Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah forces near Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“The journalist has frequently covered arms smuggling from Lebanon to neighbouring Syria, which might be a reason for his detention,” the CPJ said on September 14.

According to monitors, Lebanon has a better track record on press freedoms than most countries in the region, and journalists are rarely detained for doing their job.

But the country is politically divided over the revolt in neighbouring Syria, with Hezbollah and its allies supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and the opposition opposing it.

Syria dominated its smaller neighbour politically and militarily for three decades until it withdrew its troops in 2005.

KT/ AFP

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10 responses to “Journalist tortured in custody in Lebanon”

  1. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    Assad ordered killing of Muslim cleric to instigate civil war in Lebanon: leaked files

    Revelations based on newly-leaked and highly-classified Syrian security documents unveil the Syrian regime’s plan to destabilize Lebanon’s security through “eliminating” relevant figures.

    In a document dated April 5, Major General Bassam Merhej, Director of the Presidential Security Office, writes to Brigadier General Hassan Abdel Rahman, Chief of the Syrian Special Operations Unit in Foreign Intelligence; the orders were clear: creating disorder in Lebanon. Merhej orders Abdel Rahman to meet with “friends” in Lebanon but without informing them “in any way” of the details of the operation.The General also requests sending a high-level commander to Lebanon in order to supervise the mission.In the same document, Merhej gave two orders to kill: First, “discreetly” eliminating all personalities named on a separate list provided by the ‘monitoring division’ (the list wasn’t attached to the document). Second, he requests Abdel Rahman to eliminate “figures renowned for their religious-sectarian affiliations;” stating that the goal is to “create turmoil in Lebanon that would be impossible to calm down.”

    At the end of the month of May, Tripoli and its neighboring villages witnessed deadly sectarian clashes and violent riots in reaction to the killing of a Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdel Wahed, allegedly by the Lebanese army.

  2. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    Assad ordered killing of Muslim cleric to instigate civil war in Lebanon: leaked files

    Revelations based on newly-leaked and highly-classified Syrian security documents unveil the Syrian regime’s plan to destabilize Lebanon’s security through “eliminating” relevant figures.

    In a document dated April 5, Major General Bassam Merhej, Director of the Presidential Security Office, writes to Brigadier General Hassan Abdel Rahman, Chief of the Syrian Special Operations Unit in Foreign Intelligence; the orders were clear: creating disorder in Lebanon. Merhej orders Abdel Rahman to meet with “friends” in Lebanon but without informing them “in any way” of the details of the operation.The General also requests sending a high-level commander to Lebanon in order to supervise the mission.In the same document, Merhej gave two orders to kill: First, “discreetly” eliminating all personalities named on a separate list provided by the ‘monitoring division’ (the list wasn’t attached to the document). Second, he requests Abdel Rahman to eliminate “figures renowned for their religious-sectarian affiliations;” stating that the goal is to “create turmoil in Lebanon that would be impossible to calm down.”

    At the end of the month of May, Tripoli and its neighboring villages witnessed deadly sectarian clashes and violent riots in reaction to the killing of a Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdel Wahed, allegedly by the Lebanese army.

  3. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    In a second leaked top secret document Hassan Abdel Rahman sends a written order to Brigadier Chawki Makhlouf, for the latter to go to Lebanon and to accomplish a mission he referred to as “8/23.”

    Abdel Rahman’s file was sent on May 12. A week later, Sheikh Abdel Wahed was killed. These are Alqaeda doing this dirty job for a long time and now their ugly nature is being exposed.  Its good that Shahama the psycho was caught before he explode the bomb and blame it on the Fantom Alqaeda.  

  4. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    In a second leaked top secret document Hassan Abdel Rahman sends a written order to Brigadier Chawki Makhlouf, for the latter to go to Lebanon and to accomplish a mission he referred to as “8/23.”

    Abdel Rahman’s file was sent on May 12. A week later, Sheikh Abdel Wahed was killed. These are Alqaeda doing this dirty job for a long time and now their ugly nature is being exposed.  Its good that Shahama the psycho was caught before he explode the bomb and blame it on the Fantom Alqaeda.  

  5. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    ‘better track record on press freedoms than most countries in the region’
    Sad to consider that one …. reporters should avoid coffee shops too … at least, near government buildings.

    Can’t wait until the ‘Taxi Story’ hits YaLibnan … hehehehe

  6. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    ‘better track record on press freedoms than most countries in the region’
    Sad to consider that one …. reporters should avoid coffee shops too … at least, near government buildings.

    Can’t wait until the ‘Taxi Story’ hits YaLibnan … hehehehe

  7. dobry sklep Avatar
    dobry sklep

    Wow, awesome blog structure! How lengthy have you been blogging for?
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