MTV Lebanon files lawsuit against Lebanese presidency

TV broadcaster MTV Lebanon has filed a lawsuit against the Lebanese presidency after being banned from entering the presidential palace to cover talks regarding the formation of a new government last week.

MTV slammed the president after its news crew were blocked from entering the Baabda Palace to cover parliamentary consultations held by Lebanese President Michel Aoun for the nomination of a new prime minister and formation of a new government.

MTV has been highly critical of the Lebanese government and President Aoun in the wake of the Beirut port explosion which rocked the capital on 4 August.

READ: Lebanon army unearths 4.35 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in Beirut port

“MTV attacked the president, stripped him of his official capacity, referred to him using his name alone without his title, and persisted in insulting and defaming him as well as describing him using inappropriate expressions. Numerous attempts to get the channel to reconsider yielded no results. All these violations are punishable by law,” a statement issued by the General Directorate of the Lebanese Presidency said.

The Lebanese government was forced to resign in the aftermath of the explosion after documents came to light claiming that Prime Minister Hasan Diab, President Aoun and former government ministers, were aware a highly explosive substance was stored in the port prior to the blast.

The 4 August blast happened when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored unsafely in Beirut port’s warehouse 12 for six years, ignited and exploded.

The explosion claimed the lives of nearly 200, injured thousands more and caused widespread material damage as far as 15 miles from the site of the blast.