Lebanese reporter Dima Sadek summoned over ‘fake news’ as Bassil files complaint

Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek, known for her vocal support of anti-government protests, said on Saturday that she has been summoned for interrogation by the security authorities for spreading “fake news” about a local party and “inciting sectarianism and racism.”

Sadek, a former presenter at local television LBC, said that the President of the Free Patriotic Movement party Gebran Bassil had filed a complaint against her.

“Oh, and they asked [security body] if I can give them Gino Raidy’s [a blogger/ activist] number so that they could summon him too, but unfortunately I didn’t have it,” she tweeted sarcastically.

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Sadek is an outspoken activist and a strong critic of Hezbollah and Bassil, Lebanon’s former foreign minister.

In December 2019, she took part in one of the Lebanese protests against the ruling elite when her mobile phone was stolen by an alleged Hezbollah supporter.

An online campaign to support her and two other activists, Gino Raidy and Charbel al-Khoury, at the time of questioning, spread on Twitter under the name “No to police repression.”

Member of Parliament Samy Gemayel tweeted in Arabic saying: “The campaign of summoning, initiated to lower free voices, continues with unmatched impudence.”

Twitter user Joyce Tabet said the authorities are unable to do anything but “suppress the people’s criticism.”

Another hashtag which translates to “we’re all Dima Sadek” was also trending in Lebanon.