REPORT: Complaint filed against Saudi newspaper over Rai Caricature

          
A criminal complaint against the Saudi al-Watan newspaper has been filed on the backdrop of publishing a caricature criticizing Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai's visit to Syria.                

Attorney Wadih Aql filed the complaint with the general prosecutor’s office against the newspaper's publisher, its editor-in-chief and the caricaturist, Jihad Awrati.             

Aql accused them of slandering the patriarch and inciting strife and racism, according to VDL radio.            

The Saudi newspaper published on Tuesday a caricature depicting Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai in a derogatory manner, replacing his miter with a rocket and highlighting the common letters between the patriarch and the Syrian president's names in Arabic, following his visit to Syria over the weekend.                 

Jihad Awrati's caricature sparked outrage in social media platforms for what viewers saw as a disrespectful depiction of the Maronite head of church.            

Rai's visit to Syria, through which he aimed at taking part in the inauguration celebration of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Levant and Antioch Youhanna al-Yaziji, created a heated debate locally.                

However, sources in the church described the visit as “religious,” and supported by the Vatican.   


For the full LBCI report, please click on the image above