Campaign to decriminalize defamation and insult in Lebanese laws Lebanese authorities and powerful individuals, including political, judicial, religious and security figures, are increasingly displaying intolerance towards criticism and are weaponizing Lebanon’s criminal defamation and insult laws to harass, intimidate and silence human rights defenders, activists, journalists and others who criticize them or try to expose their alleged misconduct or corruption. Convictions under these laws can
The Lebanese authorities must immediately halt all prosecutions of journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and others who are critical of state officials, Amnesty International today, as the organization launches #MyOpinionIsNotaCrime, a new campaign that calls on the Lebanese Parliament to abolish all laws that criminalize insult and defamation. The new campaign comes amid a spate of prosecutions of those critical of political, security, judicial and religious figures in the country,
The new campaign urges reform of the law to protect freedom of speech following the summoning and prosecution of dozens of people over defamation claims.
Middle East and North Africa: A free expression round up produced by IFEX's Regional Editor Naseem Tarawnah, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.