Days after the explosion, citizens marched down Martyrs’ Square to protest against the neglect of the state that caused the massive devastation of their capital and the loss of so many lives.
Saying that the people were angry would be an understatement.
There were fury and expressions of pain from one side, and there were teargasses and bullets from another. Several protesters got injured and a police officer got killed.
Reports from hospitals circulating social media did show indeed severe injuries caused by live bullets and rubber bullets.
On August 19th, MTV’s talk-show In The Name of The People hosted the outspoken journalist Dima Sadek to talk about the protest and the ongoing situation in the country.
The TV interview kicked off with the host, Riad Tawk, declaring that he will not hold back on naming people to blame for the catastrophe in Lebanon.
And so it was that they did, blaming top officials in the country, including the speaker of the parliament and head of the Amal party, Nabih Berri, whom Dima called “militiaman,” accusing him of ordering the officers to shoot at the protesters with live ammunition and rubber bullets.
In response, the Speaker of the Parliament filed a lawsuit, issued by lawyer Ali Rahal, against MTV, Riad Tawk, Dima Sadek, “and others” for allegedly inciting hatred, slandering, defaming, spreading false news, and so on.
Accordingly, Riad Tawk tweeted, “The president [of the parliament] honored me with this [legal] complaint,” and quoting a known proverb that practically says, “The one who is silent about the truth is a demon and the rightful is a sultan.”
As for Dima Sadek, who is known to be an October 17 revolutionary herself, she got herself a fierce, highly slandering backlash on Twitter from the party members and supporters of Berri; as has been the case every time she speaks up against a politician since the onset of the Thawra.
She has been also under similar slandering attacks from the supporters of MP Gebran Bassil, head of the Tayyar party, who is simultaneously suing her.
She tweeted on Tuesday, “After August 4th, I became accused of two cases and there is still not one politician accused of any case.”
This isn’t the first time Dima Sadek gets in trouble with “the law,” having been summoned and interrogated several times during the revolution for speaking up against corruption and oppression related to politicians in the country.