Lebanese authorities are attempting to silence and intimidate him and, through him, the entire Lebanese human rights community. He was also prosecuted because he has defended the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people to equality before the law in Lebanon. Ziad Mugraby, Manager of Destination, stood trial because he did not acceded to arbitrary police pressures to divulge information about a gay and lesbian internet site-a site completely unconnected to his own internet service. Lebanon has disregarded its own Constitution's guarantee of the freedom of expression. The trial of these men before a military tribunal violates numerous international protections for equality before the law and for the right to a fair trial.
Military courts are an arm of the executive branch.
They lack the guarantees of independence offered by a civilian judiciary. Even under Lebanese law, the trial is irregular. There is no legal basis for Mr. el Batal and Mr. Mugraby being tried by a military court. There has not been such a basis for thirty years. Lebanese justice must, for its own sake, bring its standards into the twenty-first century.