Lebanese Press Syndicate Condemns Journalists Kidnapping

The Lebanese Press Syndicate emphasized on freedom of expression in times of distress, after the kidnapping of two foreign journalists in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in a statement issued on Thursday.

According to the Syndicate, which strongly condemned the kidnapping, “the incident continues to receive local and international interactions, especially in Britain.”

The Press Syndicate stressed on the freedom of opinion and expression in Lebanon both “in theory and practice.”

“The kidnapping of foreign journalists will give the world another evidence of the complete deterioration of the Lebanese general situations,” the Syndicate stated, urging the security and judicial authorities to identify the perpetrators and take action against them.

The journalists, Matthew Kynaston of Britain and Stella Männer of Germany, had been detained for several hours by “Hizbullah agents” while covering Lebanon’s fuel crisis at a gas station on the Airport Road, media reports said.

They were later handed over to the Lebanese General Security after the intervention of the British and German embassies and released on the same evening, unharmed.