People in Jezzine Summoned for Facebook Accounts
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Army Intelligence Directorate in the area of Jezzine in southern Lebanon has summoned some youths in the region for investigation over information and friends listed on their Facebook profiles, An Nahar daily said Wednesday.
The investigation did not spare well-educated people, with respected jobs including a professor at a private university, employees in the private and public sectors, and an employee bank, reported the daily.
The summoned are not only subject to moral and material damage but are also required to take time off from work for a whole day in order to head to Sidon for the required investigation that begins at 8 in the morning and ends at almost 2 in the afternoon.
They sit in waiting for their turn, obliged to tolerate the required measures in investigation just like criminals and suspects do, added An Nahar.
According to unnamed sources, more than 10 individuals from Jezzine have been questioned so far, knowing that a list of 86 names has been prepared for questioning merely for having a facebook account,it said.
30 May 2012, 10:28
09
I guess, most of the lebanese will be questioned soon, specially the commentators on naharnet. lol
30 May 2012, 10:50
39
it is mentioned in the constitution that facebook is against moral and social values and considered as a crime , change and reform rules ;)
30 May 2012, 11:20
59
The Army Intelligence officers are the biggest retarded loosers in this country.
30 May 2012, 13:38
56
What ? you attack the army ? for god's sake you should respect it and back it and be on the same side and NEVER condemn what the army do !
30 May 2012, 13:38
56
you must be an M14 for the disrespect you show for the most honorable institution in Lebanon !
30 May 2012, 17:23
11
I will respect them when they start teaching them in their military school on how to respect and tolerate FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
Note: Im a US citizen too, and i know what it means to have freedom of speech.
30 May 2012, 11:39
22
this doesn't list the entire story, do you know why they were summoned?
obviously it's not for having a facebook account, hence the reason makes a difference.
for example, summoning people because they post statuses supporting the murder of someone or supporting kaeida, is different than summoning them for dissing a politician!
i'm all for the first, though obviously against people being summoned for the second.
so once again, this story (should be labeled as hear/say) isn't clear...
30 May 2012, 11:43
08
I'd like to know why were they summoned? because of their criticism and voicing their political opinion?
30 May 2012, 12:35
61
finally a relevant comment here, yes the key information is why they were summoned. but annahar stopped short of that.
facebook has been used in many countries for investigations, including some rather comical situations where burglars logged into their accounts from the house they were robbing etc...
what is essential here is to know why they were questioned and what the charges are.
30 May 2012, 12:06
06
Interesting development. I think after my comments here on Naharnet, I dont have any friends amongst our politicians.
Wait, someone is knocking on my door...
...Sidon here I come!
30 May 2012, 12:14
07
If i have to guess i would say it is not about these people having a facebook account (because you have about 500,000 facebook user in Lebanon), but about who they have befriended and/or who they are conversing with on facebook.
30 May 2012, 12:47
14
Remember guys...In Lebanon it is against the Law - and could amount to Treason - if you make contact with the Israeli enemy.
30 May 2012, 12:36
82
might be related to insulting or inflammatory comments, like the case where the president had been insulted...
30 May 2012, 12:21
38
Lebanon's democracy and freedom is in mortal danger by a government formed by a criminal regime and a criminal organization. How long would it take people to realize that Hizbollah is not much different from the oppressive regime in North Korea and Aoun is another copy of mad Kaddafi. They are both leading their communities to the abyss instead of Lebanon being the shining star on the hill, guiding the Arab Spring to freedom and democracy, modernizing our laws, joining the global village of civilized nations, becoming an effective member of the global economy, and transforming Lebanon into the Silicon Valley and Intellectual Hub of the Middle East. . But first we need to stop Aoun & Hizbollah’s poison and their mafia from killing everything good in Lebanon and transforming us into another Somalia.
30 May 2012, 12:25
16
who wrote this awful piece?! seriously?! the police didnt just arrest poor people who no one cared about?! they arrested middle class people who have a job and a professor?! this is a classist way of reporting news and it's totally biased. being interrogated because of facebook is certainly an appalling thing that should be discredited but reporting the news this way makes it even worse. God forbid a middle class person is persecuted, but who cares about the "poor people". fuck this.
30 May 2012, 12:31
122
you're full of it arent you? stop posting under a lebanese name tony, when you say "we americans" you're clearly showing where your loyalty stands.
30 May 2012, 13:59
211
well mowaten, based on your comment: you and FT should not post here as you are both not lebanese! one is iranian and the other syrian....
30 May 2012, 12:41
04
"The investigation did not spare well-educated people, with respected jobs including a professor at a private university, employees in the private and public sectors, and an employee bank, reported the daily."
what is more appalling than the investigations is this paragraph
should only poor people with bad or no jobs be interrogated and investigated??? so having money and a social stature give you the right to be a class A citizen. this paragraph summaries all that is wrong in Lebanon
30 May 2012, 13:20
33
So if you friend an Israeli Arab, then that is enough for the Lebanese Gestapo to haul you in? Democracy my ass.
30 May 2012, 14:18
23
I think we have a problem here. Many Lebanese who study abroad for example, or even take part in discussions on the internet could have israeli friends on facebook.
This can be treason yes, if you live in Nazi germany or the Sovjet Union ( of the past).
30 May 2012, 14:43
02
Ulpianus
Don't confuse having Jewish friends of whatever nationality, which is pretty much allowed under Lebanese Law
Having Israelis friends (even Muslim Arab Israeli) is not allowed under Lebanese Law. It is pretty Serious Ulpianus - there is nothing to Laugh about - All Lebanese abroad should consider carefully who they befriend abroad if they wish to return to Lebanon without risk of being questioned.
You would be surprised to know how many Israelis have also been questioned and prosecuted for contacting people from enemy states.
If you were in the US prior TO the fall of USSR, and you made contact with Soviet citizens, then you would also expect to be interrogated by the FBI. So it is not something only the Soviet Union or Nazi germany were doing
30 May 2012, 17:07
01
Dont worry man, My joking comment was anyway removed in some suspicious way by Naharnet.
I still hold, you could love your country and have "friends" from everywhere.
This is really an insult to the personal freedom of all Lebanese.
30 May 2012, 19:54
01
How many Israelis have been questioned for befriending a lebanese on facebook ? None. What a load of BS!
30 May 2012, 13:49
01
way to go leb army. u really have nothing else to do? no criminals, drug dealers? or rapest left in the country?they r all arrested i take it.u r a joke
30 May 2012, 14:01
24
guys, don't you feel freedom of expression is getting really smaller since this government took over?
30 May 2012, 14:01
14
guys, don't you feel freedom of expression is getting really smaller since this government took over?
30 May 2012, 14:31
24
Geha: "Iran" and "freedom of thought" are not exactly compatible concepts.
30 May 2012, 15:11
01
To be Fair : "Most of the arab countries (including Lebanon)" and "freedom of thought" are not exactly compatible concepts.
31 May 2012, 12:29
01
uh... you know exactly my opinion of the bedouins. It doen't make the Iranians any less evil. Their agendas and mentalities don't belong here. We Lebanese are crazy and we like it this way. We don't like to conform to the disciplines that others are trying to impose on us. La wahabi wla ayatollah wla battikh. 7éllo 3anna. 3réft kif?
30 May 2012, 14:44
01
Surveillance is happening in every country,
for security concerns. In the US, Britain, Germany,
all countries. Let the Army do its work and stop
theorizing..."itnazro" yalli ma fi salli ta7t batto ma tene3ro.
Shatreen n'alid el gharb bil habbal, leish ma menshouf
7alna bi moukhabartna el sehrani 3ala ammen el Wattan.
30 May 2012, 15:14
01
According to this article the people were summoned "over information and friends listed". If I have to take a wild guess, I ll say that one of their friend is suspected to have collaborated with Israel.
30 May 2012, 15:36
41
To JCamerican / Slash / Charbel / Geha
The writer of this article is suspciously trying to portray the issue as an attack against Freedom of Thought, or as Censorship abuse, not to mention that some of you have picked up the disdain tone against poor people.
It is a known fact that Army Intelligence are not people who play around, and deal only with serious security threats.
If Insults or inflammatory comments cases happen to cross their path, they simply refer it to ISF Vice&Virtue department as proper authority to handle such cases.
So for Army Intelligence to summon these people to their headquarters, you can bet, it is for something more serious than just their profile picture looked funny.
30 May 2012, 16:56
13
well we saw them when Lebanon was under the syrian hegemony how we were pulled from our houses in pyjamas in 1994/5/6/7 at 3 am in the morning to tell them where are the weapons while we surrendered everything! Dont think that now the army intelligence is far from that , whether are the reasons , i think a person roaming the streets with a gun whether he is a sunni/christian/chi3i is far more dangerous than a person with a profile pic on his facebook , let them do their work like they should be !
30 May 2012, 17:24
31
Slash
If you are upset with the current government, don't take it on the Army.
FYI the Army's doctrine and policy doesn't change when governments change. I can't say the same about your opinion on Army though.
Let me remind you, that Army intelligence has summoned & interrogated more people in 2009 when they were pursuing Israeli spies, You weren't upset then, because Hariri was head of Government.
Army intelligence is doing the same job now, as it did in 2009. It hasn't changed, only your biased opinion did.
30 May 2012, 20:40
10
If you don't know the reason why they were summoned, don't jump to conclusions. I understand your old memories, but they are just that, old memories.
These guys were not pulled out from their houses, they were served notices.
Even in the USA, if you have a Facebook account with pictures or writing that are considered a threat, they also call you for an investigation. Especially now with the new FBI that roams the Internet.
Having said that, let's find out what the reason is for these people to be summoned and we can take it from there.
30 May 2012, 16:35
12
This is rediculous if we didnt know any better we would have thought that Lebanon is cracking down on Facebook. Really pathetic......who wites these articles?
30 May 2012, 17:43
01
The collaborators with Israel and the spies are from Hizballah and FPM. Israel is not going to recruite a spy who can't infiltrate Hizballah. The Hizb and FPM are both filled with spies and collaborators.
30 May 2012, 19:12
01
you realy have nothing more impiortant to do.
we r under constant threat from a syrian invasion and the army are busy pocking their nose in our private business.who cares who s my facebook friends are. apparently the army is. what a joke
30 May 2012, 20:43
01
The title of this article is so wrong and misleading, it's not even funny.
The content is even more vague.
But, at least it triggered a waterfall of amusing comments.
30 May 2012, 23:06
11
The internet scares the hell out of Dictators! the dictators wannabes in lebanon tremble when they read common sense criticism . What the hell is the army intelligence doing in this?
