BEIRUT: A Lebanese court Monday referred the case of TV comedy producer Charbel Khalil over allegations of defaming Islam on Twitter to an appeals court, judicial sources told The Daily Star.
Khalil and his lawyer, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, walked out of Beirut’s Justice Palace Monday to loud cheers from his supporters, announcing that the case would be seen by an appeals court.
Kanaan said Khalil will remain free, denouncing “the attempts to transform this case into a sectarian issue” and use it to incite strife.
Judicial sources said State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud found that there was enough evidence to move forward with the case, referring it to the State Prosecutor of Appeals in Mount Lebanon Claude Karam, who will continue investigations.
A group of friends, colleagues and supporters of Khalil gathered outside the court before the hearing to denounce the case filed against him.
Some of the protesters stood with a black ribbon tied around their mouths to signify censorship, while others held signs reading “Je Suis Charbel,” or “I am Charbel.”
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian accused Khalil last week of defaming Islam in a Twitter post last week, urging Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi to take action.
Derian also tasked a lawyer from Dar al-Fatwa with presenting a notice to State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud demanding the interrogation of Khalil.
In turn, Lebanese lawyer Tarek Shandab, representing 70 religious and civic figures, filed a lawsuit against Khalil, accusing him of insulting Islam and harming national unity.
Khalil, in turn, denounced Shandab as a liar, accusing him of giving false information to The Daily Star about the content of the picture.
Shandab was never contacted by The Daily Star. But last week, a judicial source told The Daily Star that Shandab’s lawsuit against Khalil alleged that the producer defamed Islam by sharing a picture showing a bearded man and a woman naked on a bed covered by the Islamic banner.
A comment posted under the purported photo read: “Jihad Niqah (sexual jihad) under the Prophet’s umbrella,” according to the judicial source, citing the lawsuit.
The Daily Star has not seen the picture, and the judicial source when contacted by The Daily Star Monday also said he has not seen the photo.
But Khalil did retweet a photo showing a veiled woman wearing a short dress and sitting on a bed covered with black sheets on which the Islamic slogan “There is no god but God and Mohammad is his Prophet” is written.
The picture makes reference to the concept of “sexual jihad,” which Muslim militant groups use as a religious justification for male fighters to receive sexual services in times of war.
Khalil also wondered whether Derian had seen the picture before taking legal action.
“I have a feeling that the mufti has not seen the picture,” he said. “If he had, he wouldn’t have done what he did.”
He also slammed the 70 organizations and figures represented by Shandab, accusing the lawyer and his partners of adopting ISIS-like thoughts and attitudes.
Shandab was also subject of mockery Monday by some of the demonstrators, who held a poster of the lawyer with the caption “Tarek Ajdab,” meaning “Tarek is dumb.”
The lawyer, who has also defended several Islamist terror suspects in Roumieh prison, called on the prosecutor general to arrest Khalil and sentence him with the “most severe sanction” for insulting Islam.
Khalil had previously defended himself over the criticism, writing on Twitter that the picture was widely shared over social media months ago.
This was the latest of the several controversies that have erupted over posts or sketches by Khalil, who directs the comedy programs “Basmat al-Watan” and “Douma-cratieh.”
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