Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Sunday, June 22, 2025
    961
    Instagram Facebook LinkedIn TikTok
    • Breaking News
    • Guides
    • Food & Drink
    • Listicles
    • Join the Team
    • Whatsapp
      • 961
      • 961 News
    • AUB Outdoors ☀️
    Advertise with Us Get the App
    961
    Home»News»Lebanon News
    Lebanese Actor Allegedly Tortured By State Security Summoned For Investigation
    AP/Hussein Malla
    2 Mins Read

    Lebanese Actor Allegedly Tortured By State Securities Was Summoned Again For Investigation

    By Hussein YassineOctober 16, 2020
    Facebook WhatsApp Copy Link

    In 2017, Lebanese actor Ziad Itani was arrested for allegedly spying for Israel; a crime that he was later exonerated from. But while Itani was released and his accusers charged for falsely incriminating him, his story with injustice is far from over.

    On Thursday, October 15th, the actor was set to be questioned by an investigative judge in relation to another complaint filed against him, this time by State Security officials.

    The accusation this time is related to defamation.

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by العربية Al Arabiya (@alarabiya) on Mar 3, 2018 at 2:57am PST

    Reportedly, the defamation complaint comes in response to Itani’s recent critical remarks of State Security, which followed the leakage of the old video of his interrogation to the media in August 2020.

    Notably, Itani has told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that, while he was facing the false accusation in 2017, he was forcibly disappeared and tortured by State Security, which prompted him, following his release, to file a torture complaint on November 20th, 2018.

    However, as HRW said in a new report published on the topic on Thursday, Lebanon’s criminal justice authorities have yet to take action and investigate the torture allegations.

    #Lebanon's corrupt leaders doing an abysmal job protecting rights, so unsurprising criminal justice authorities are following their lead & prioritizing criminal defamation complaint to silence gov't criticism over investigating serious torture allegations https://t.co/25MtmiEFAn pic.twitter.com/S79qUy2r9U

    — Michael Page (@MichaelARPage) October 15, 2020

    Furthermore, they haven’t launched a serious investigation into how Ziad Itani’s interrogation videos were leaked, HRW added.

    “Instead, judges were quick to summon Itani for interrogation after State Security officials filed a defamation complaint against him.”

    HRW proceeded to criticize Lebanon’s “failure to combat torture,” affirming that its criminal justice authorities should investigate his torture claims as well as how the confidential information of his interrogation was leaked to the media.

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by Ayoub News (@ayoubnewslb) on May 31, 2018 at 12:52am PDT

    It also shed light on how the authorities in Lebanon use criminal defamation laws to retaliate against people who criticize them, stressing that they should “ensure freedom of speech is protected and critics are not punished for speaking out.”

    Lebanon: Defamation Laws Used to Silence Critics https://t.co/RT8ss0y550

    — Human Rights Watch (@hrw) November 15, 2019

    As commonly known, freedom of speech in Lebanon is subject to persecutions when people express their disapproval or their dislike of the state, the political officials, or the president in particular.

    That is similarly true with the freedom of the press, where reporters and journalists could get arrested, sued, or penalized for alleged defamation, as observed with the recent case of MTV getting banned from the presidential palace.

    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email

    For You

    uae travel ban lebanon 961

    UAE Is Officially Removing The Travel Ban On Lebanon

    Joe Issa El-Khoury 961

    Who is Joe Issa El-Khoury, Lebanon’s New Minister of Industry

    Adel Nassar 961

    Who is Adel Nassar, Lebanon’s New Minister of Justice

    Nizar Hani 961

    Who is Nizar Hani, Lebanon’s New Minister of Agriculture

    Charles Hajj 961

    Who Is Charles Hajj, Lebanon’s New Minister of Telecommunications

    Nora Bayrakdarian 961

    Who is Nora Bayrakdarian, Lebanon’s New Minister of Youth and Sports

    Low-Cost Lebanese Airline 961

    We Might Finally Be Getting A Low-Cost Lebanese Airline – Here’s What We Know

    lebanon jounieh cyprus by ferry 961

    You’ll Soon Be Able To Travel Between Lebanon & Cyprus By Ferry

    June 8, 2025
    Michel Hayek

    Michel Hayek 2025: Predictions For The World

    December 31, 2024
    whish pay lebanon 961

    You Can Now Use Whish Pay At Shopify Stores

    June 13, 2025

    20 Celebrities You Probably Didn’t Know Had Lebanese Roots

    April 22, 2019
    Michel Hayek

    Michel Hayek 2025: Predictions For Lebanon

    December 31, 2024
    lebanon cybergames 2025 hacking 961

    Lebanon Just Won A Global Hacking Competition

    June 10, 2025
    Michel Hayek

    Michel Hayek 2025: Predictions For The Middle East

    December 31, 2024
    lebanese beer brands almaza beirut beer 961

    Lebanese Beer Brands Are Publicly Throwing Shade, And It’s Getting Frothy

    June 7, 2025

    Lebanon’s Shawarma Is Going Viral in The Philippines

    April 21, 2019
    961 Logo
    Facebook WhatsApp TikTok Instagram

    Popular Topics

    • Guides
    • Eat & Drink
    • Listicles
    • Lebanon News
    • Diaspora
    • Explained

    961

    • About
    • WhatsApp Channel
    • News WhatsApp Channel
    • Corrections Policy
    • Ownership & Funding

    Services

    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • App Waitlist
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletter
    961™ | All Rights Reserved ©2025
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Okay