“Tahet Taelat al-Masouliya” crew who works at Al-Jadeed television was beaten on Tuesday outside the Customs headquarters in Downtown Beirut.
According to al-Jadeed channel, the crew was beaten by customs agents over an episode on the “corruption at the Lebanese Customs.”
Riyad Qobeissi, Adeeb Farhat, Ali Shreim and Ali Khalifeh were arrested by Customs members and referred to the public prosecution.
A number of journalists gathered near the Customs headquarters calling for the swift release of the four men while acting director of Customs Shafiq Merhi left the building.
Later on,
crew members of the Al-Jadeed TV were released after being arrested by Customs members and referred to the public prosecution.
This comes after acting General Prosecutor Judge Hammoud said Al-Jadeed crew will be released as soon as the coroner arrives and issues his report.
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Deputy News and Political Program Manager at Al-Jadeed TV, Karma Khayat told LBCI that “armed militia of the Customs bureau attacked Al-Jadeed crew members,” adding that the file had been referred to Judge Hammoud.
In turn, head of the Union of Journalists Elias Aoun denounced the attack, urging concerned authorities to protect journalists in order to prevent the eruption of such incidents.
He also mentioned that he asked judge Hammoud to interfere in order to release the arrested journalists and reveal the circumstances of the incident.
For his part, caretaker Labor Minister Salim Jreissati denounced the attack on Al-Jadeed crew members, stating that the freedom of media is sacred.
Meanwhile, caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told LBCI that all sorts of attacks against journalists are rejected, adding that he asked Judge Hammoud to investigate the incident in order to reveal its circumstances.
In turn, caretaker Information Minister Walid Daouk expressed his support to the crew members of Al-Jadeed TV station, pointing out that he is carrying out various contacts to speed up their release.
Deputy Hassan Fadlallah also denounced the attack stating that cooperation is a must between media outlets and security apparatuses.
To watch Nader Fawz report, please click on the VIDEO above