Lebanon TV host may be hauled into court

A court battle involving Lebanese talk show host Marcel Ghanem is proving to be the latest example of what free speech campaigners say is growing repression by the government of public dissent.

On Monday this week, a judge authorised the use of force to compel Ghanem to appear in court on charges of insulting the ministry of justice, prompting the host’s lawyer to request the judge’s removal.

“There is a trend since the election of the new president, bringing these charges under the veil of keeping things calm and maintaining stability,” said Ayman Mhanna, director of the SKeyes Centre, a media rights organisation in Beirut.

“We have been working on this for the past few months, but now with Ghanem [and other cases], so many people have been arrested and interrogated.”

Lebanon was without a government for two years before the election of president Michel Aoun late last year.

Ghanem has hosted Kalam Ennas (Talk of the People), a weekly talk show on Lebanon’s LBC network, since 1995.

The charges against him stem from an episode of the programme in November when two Saudi Arabian journalists criticised Mr Aoun and other members of Lebanon’s government.

Charges of insulting the president – a crime punishable by up to two years in jail – were brought against the journalists.

Ghanem criticised the charges against his guests, which led to the charges against him.

On Tuesday, Boutros Harb, Ghanem’s lawyer, called for the removal of the judge, Nicolas Mansour, on the grounds that Mr Mansour had failed to follow procedure when Mr Harb tried to deliver a preliminary defence for his client.

Instead, Mr Mansour summoned Ghanem to his court by January 4.