A Lebanese military court in Beirut, presided by Brig. Gen. Wassim Fayed, sentenced journalist Maria Maalouf in absentia to 15 years in prison for a 2021 interview with Israel's Kan 11. Maalouf was convicted of "treason," normalization with Israel, violating the anti-Israel boycott law, and contact with "hostile media." The criminal case was opened in 2024 amid the war with Israel. Maalouf, who left Lebanon and resides abroad, said the verdict does not make her guilty and reflects that the Lebanese legal and intelligence systems protect Hezbollah's interests, not Lebanon's.
A Beirut military court has sentenced journalist Maria Maalouf to 15 years in prison in absentia for a 2021 interview with Kan 11, Israel's public broadcaster. The tribunal, presided by Brig. Gen. Wassim Fayed, convicted Maalouf of treason, advocating normalization with Israel, violating Lebanon's anti-Israel boycott law, and maintaining contact with hostile media. The criminal case was opened in 2024 against the backdrop of the Israel-Lebanon war.
Maalouf, who left Lebanon and currently lives abroad, is the first Lebanese journalist to appear on Israeli television. In the interview, she called for greater openness and freedom in Lebanon and expressed support for ending the conflict with Israel. Following the case's opening, she reported receiving numerous threats. In response to the verdict, Maalouf stated that the sentence does not make her guilty and that, in her view, the Lebanese legal and intelligence systems protect Hezbollah's interests rather than Lebanon's.
As The Zioneer previously reported, the case stems from Maalouf's criticism of Hezbollah and Iran in the same interview, in which she said the two had "taken the state hostage." The conviction and sentence, handed down in absentia, mark an escalation in Lebanon's legal crackdown on those seen as breaking the taboo on contact with Israel.
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