Al-Arabiya correspondent Mohammad Dughmoch was detained for seven hours at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport Tuesday, following a dispute that arose when the journalist was questioned about a Free Syria Army stamp in his passport.
Dughmoch was “coming to Lebanon from Turkey when he was asked to explain the FSA stamp in his passport,” Ayman Mhanna, director of Samir Kassir Eyes (Skeyes) Center for Media and Cultural Freedom told The Daily Star, relaying what Al-Arabiya’s Beirut bureau chief Zouhair Mansour had told his organization.
There was an argument about that issue, which led to Dughmoch being held for seven hours, Mhanna added, explaining that before he was eventually granted entry, there were at some point discussions about the correspondent being deported to Dubai.
This is the second reported incident in less than a month of a journalist confronting problems when attempting to enter the country with a Syrian rebel army passport stamp.
Earlier in March, a European journalist, who requested anonymity, was held and questioned for 12 hours before being denied entry. According to reports, he had traveled to Beirut from Amman, following a trip to Aleppo Province in Syria. He told the media that the reason he was given for his deportation was the FSA stamp in his passport.
It remains unclear whether Dughmoch was initially detained due to the stamp or due to the ensuing argument.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told The Daily Star that Dughmoch had been involved in some sort of altercation with airport authorities who had asked him about his FSA stamp and that all he had to do was apologize to the immigration officer to be admitted to the country.
Neither Al-Arabiya nor Dughmoch could be reached for comment.
Other journalists The Daily Star has spoken to have previously entered the country without incident despite having FSA stamps in their passports. However, none had traveled to Lebanon in the past month.
The FSA controls several border crossings on Syria’s Turkish frontier.
In light of these recent incidents, the question remains: Is Lebanon, a country with an officially declared policy of disassociation regarding the conflict in Syria, actively restricting access to the state for reporters returning from rebel-controlled parts of its neighbor?
“If Lebanon is restricting access to journalists who have been covering Syria, that is something we deplore,” SKeyes’ Mhanna said, describing it as a “violation of press freedom” and as putting an “extra layer of restraints” on those working to report an increasingly opaque and vicious war.
Mhanna acknowledges that General Security has the authority to refuse individuals entry to Lebanon on a case-by-case basis and adds that the body, which handles airport immigration, has neither confirmed nor denied whether an FSA stamp was the reason for either journalist’s difficulties.
However, Mhanna also notes that if a trend is presenting itself in terms of FSA stamps and journalists’ detentions, then General Security’s policy becomes questionable.
A policy to deny entry on the basis of an FSA stamp is one which would require a public decision, such as that which denies entry to the country to those who have an Israeli stamp in their passport. Lebanon is in a state of war with the Jewish state.
“There was never any public decision taken by any institution to decide that policy [in relation to the FSA], Mhanna said. – Additional reporting by Van Meguerditchian
