New Year’s Eve incident: Lebanon arrests man over public indecency at a Beirut restaurant

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces said a man was arrested on charges of public indecency following an incident during a New Year’s Eve party at a restaurant in Beirut.

In a statement, the agency said it received information on Jan. 1, 2026, that a person had danced naked inside a restaurant during a New Year’s celebration. The incident was documented in a video that later circulated on social media.

After coordinating with the competent judiciary, a patrol inspected the restaurant and summoned its owner and the hall manager.

On Jan. 2, the restaurant owner and manager appeared for questioning and said the individual shown in the video was a transgender person who danced in a manner deemed offensive to public morals for about 50 seconds. They said restaurant management intervened, stopped the act, covered the individual, and asked him to leave.

Both said they intended to file a personal complaint against him for violating public decency, causing harm, and damaging the restaurant’s reputation.

Following investigations, the Internal Security Forces identified the suspect as R.D., born in 1989 and a Lebanese national. Investigators also obtained another video circulating online showing him engaging in similar acts at a separate private party.

After judicial approval, the suspect was summoned for questioning and admitted to committing acts that violate public decency on his own initiative, without any request or incitement, citing psychological motives. He denied drug use, and laboratory tests came back negative.

The restaurant owner and hall manager were released, while R.D. was detained pending investigation at the competent court's orders.