Under the headline “The Airport Is Not a Trap for Detaining Lebanese Expatriates,” Major General...

If the unusual report is true—that Lebanese expatriates arriving at the airport are being detained because they criticized or allegedly insulted the President of the Republic through their social media accounts, and that they are being referred for investigation on the basis of a judicial order to sign an undertaking not to insult or target the President, with some being detained for two days at times—then, although Lebanese laws prohibit insulting the President of the Republic,

such an arbitrary procedure, which catches returning expatriates by surprise as they arrive in their own country, is a shameful and despicable act.

In such cases, it would be sufficient, for example, to serve the arriving expatriate with a notice requiring them to appear before the competent authorities within one week of entering Lebanon, rather than having them detained—particularly if they are traveling with their families or if their relatives are waiting to welcome them at the airport.