Army courts target anti-govt protesters in Lebanon

Defendants tried before the military tribunal say the system is used to intimidate protesters and prop up Lebanon’s sectarian rulers; security forces have denied beating and torturing protesters

BEIRUT

A year after mass protests roiled Lebanon, dozens of protesters are being tried before military courts, proceedings that human rights lawyers say grossly violate due process and fail to investigate allegations of torture and abuse.

Defendants tried before the military tribunal say the system is used to intimidate protesters and prop up Lebanon’s sectarian rulers.

Around 90 civilians have been referred to the military justice system so far, according to Legal Agenda, a human rights group based in Beirut.

The demonstration was part of a wave of protests sweeping Lebanon against corruption and misrule by a group of politicians who have monopolised power since the country’s civil war ended three decades ago.

The trials underscore the growing perils of activism in Lebanon, where a string of court cases and judicial investigations against journalists and critics has eroded the country’s reputation for free speech and tolerance in a largely autocratic Arab world.

Khaldoun Jaber was taking part in an anti-government protest near the presidential palace outside Beirut last November when several Lebanese intelligence officers in plainclothes approached and forcibly took him away.