LONDON: A group of Hezbollah loyalists attacked Lebanese photojournalist Hasan Shaaban on Wednesday after videos of the protests he filmed in his hometown in the Shia-dominated south circulated on social media. The assault took place shortly after his footage documented the residents in the southern town of Beit Yahoun, in Bint Jbeil district, protesting over water shortages
Lebanon s journalists face Hezbollah threat
The murder of publisher and activist Lokman Slim is a stark warning to media in the country
24 Feb 2021
Hezbollah fighters at a ceremony. Photo: Al Khamenei/CC BY 4.0
On 4 February, the Lebanese activist, political commentator and publisher Lokman Slim was shot dead in his car.
Before his murder, Slim already suspected that his days were numbered and told family members that should anything happen to him, the Shia militant group Hezbollah – of which he had been an outspoken critic – would likely be behind it.
“For the first time in years, after verbal and many physical attacks on people who oppose the politics of Hezbollah, a well-known personality [Slim] was assassinated in their areas with many leads that allow many to boldly question their involvement in his murder,” said Lebanese journalist Luna Safwan.
LONDON: Lebanese news anchor Layal Alekhtiar is the latest victim of a Hezbollah-led campaign to silence free media in and out of the country.
The journalist, who works for US State Department-funded Alhurra, received death threats via text following an incitement campaign launched by viewers loyal to Hezbollah. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) told Arab News that these threats must be investigated.
The campaign comes after Alekhtiar tweeted a video of the unveiling of the newly erected statue of the late Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani with a line from Ayat Al-Anbya (The Prophets) from the Qur’an that said: “What are these statues to which you are so devoted?”