Beirut chief investigating magistrate Abdel-Rahim Hammoud questioned the owner of Ad-Diyar newspaper, Charles Ayoub, for three hours Saturday on charges of publishing an article attacking President Emile Lahoud.
| Note to self: When waxing lyrical on the benefits of liberty, remember to mention the freedom to criticize political hacks and call them names. Put it right up there with freedom of religion. |
Hammoud also questioned Ad-Diyar responsible director Youssef Howayek before releasing both he and Ayoub, pending further investigation. Journalists' Union president Melhem Karam had accompanied Ayoub, together with union lawyer Antoine Hweiss and Howayek's lawyer, Nader Gaspar. Ayoub said afterward he had been questioned on each and every paragraph of his April 12 front page editorial with Hammoud focusing at length on parts of the article he considered particularly slanderous toward Lahoud and Lebanon's security apparatus. Ayoub explained that his editorial aimed to present a resignation by Lahoud as the only solution to Lebanon's current political difficulties. The editorial accused Lahoud of corruption and of covering up illegitimate actions taken by various government departments and by members of the president's family. |