The Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) is a local non-profit, non-partisan Lebanese human rights organization in Beirut that was established by the Franco-Lebanese Movement SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) in 2006. SOLIDA has been active since 1996 in the struggle against arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and the impunity of those perpetrating gross human violations.

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May 9, 2014

Now Lebanon - STL spokesperson Tribunal not aiming to silence journalists, May 09, 2014

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s spokesperson Marten Youssef said Thursday evening that the tribunal’s goal is not to silence journalists after the STL summoned Lebanese journalists in April to appear at the court on contempt charges.

“There is secret information about the STL’s work that were published by Lebanese and international press,” Youssef told MTV on Thursday.

He continued: “Even if they published confidential information about the STL’s work, it would be a normal thing, for we know that the Lebanese press is free.”

“However, there is a difference between confidential information about the STL’s work and other secret things that threaten witnesses’ safety and are aimed at disrupting the course of justice.”

Youssef stressed: “That is why the STL must take immediate action to protect the witnesses.”

Al-Jadeed’s Karma Mohamed Tahsin al-Khayat and the station's parent company New TV S.A.L., along with Al-Akhbareditor-in-chief Ibrahim Mohamed al-Amin and his newspaper's parent company Akhbar Beirut S.A.L., were summoned to appear before the STL on charges of contempt and obstruction of justice.

A number of Lebanese officials expressed their disapproval of this move, and several activists staged a strike in solidarity with the summoned parties.

Formally established on March 1, 2009, the STL has repeatedly been the subject of news reports based on alleged leaks concerning the investigation of the 2005 murder of former Premier Rafiq Hariri.


On January 15, 2013, Al-Akhbar published a list of 17 men it said were witnesses who were expected to testify before the tribunal.

The STL said after the incident that “publicly identifying individuals as potential STL witnesses may endanger these individuals,” which is why the Tribunal “will not confirm whether the content of the news reports is accurate or not.”

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