Conflict Incident Report

A man has been detained by the Internal Security Forces in Tripoli since Sept. 15 for a Facebook post that appeared to insult the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, according to his family.

On Sept. 14, Walid Radwan shared a photo of Hezbollah MP Nawwaf Musawi posing in front of a photo, with an image of the late Hezbollah military commander Mustafa Badreddine in the background. Badreddine was one of the four suspects indicted in the assassination of Hariri by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague.

The photo was shared with a caption addressing Rafik Hariri’s son, current Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. “Sheikh Saad [Hariri], we killed [Rafik] Hariri and we are proud. And we gloat because you cannot do anything about it. Let us see if you can form a government or take any decision without the consent of your father’s murderers. Soon we will put the names of the four indicted [by the STL] on the airport, hospitals, highways and universities. What do you think about that?”

Many have interpreted the post as a satirical critique of Hezbollah, with members of Radwan’s family telling The Daily Star he is a supporter of Hariri’s ally, the Lebanese Forces.

Radwan deleted the post several hours after sharing it, and the next day, he was summoned by the ISF’s Information Branch.

Radwan was interrogated Thursday by an investigative judge, who postponed making a decision on the case until Tuesday.

“We were expecting him to be released Thursday,” his sister Layal Radwan said.

Layal criticized the lack of decision, telling The Daily Star that the judge could have either accepted the prosecution’s decision to keep him in detention or released him.

According to Layal, her brother is expected to be released Tuesday, as a release request was submitted.