Beirut, August 31, 2010

Press Release

SKeyes calls for an end to the judicial summonses against the activist
Ismail Sheikh Hassan

On Wednesday, August 18, the Directorate of Intelligence at the Lebanese

Army detained the urban planner Ismail Sheikh Hassan as he attempted to
enter the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to visit some of his friends, and held
him the area of al-Qobbeh in Tripoli. He was released two days later, on the
afternoon of Friday, August 20. He was told that he needs to appear before
the military tribunal. However, he did not receive any official notification on
this subject, was not charged with any counts, while no date for any court
session was set.
SKeyes has been following the case of Sheikh Hassan, and had published the
news of his arrest on its website and also of his release two days later.
SKeyes came to the conclusion that this issue involves the freedom of
expression. According to the information available, and to the details of his
questioning, his detention took place against the backdrop of an article he
published in the Al-Safir daily newspaper on May 12, 2010.
Ismail Sheikh Hassan (30 years old) is a Lebanese citizen of Palestinian
origin. He is pursuing a PhD degree in Brussels (Belgium) in urban
planning. He volunteered in the reconstruction works of Aita al-Shaab in
southern Lebanon, and then in the reconstruction of the Nahr al-Bared
refugee camp.
Based on the above, SKeyes joins the call for protecting Sheikh Hassan’s
right to express his opinion, and calls on the authorities concerned – both the
judicial and security authorities- to put an end to judicial summonses against
him and to completely and permanently seal this case.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org