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Free Muhamad Mugraby: Syria's Puppets in Beirut Continue Persecuting a Lebanese Dissident

(Wall Street Journal) Claudia Rosett - Syria still casts a long shadow across Lebanon - a nation on the front lines of the struggle to shed despotism in the Middle East. Months after the Cedar Revolution and Syria's official pullout, one of Lebanon's leading human rights lawyers, Muhamad Mugraby, is facing prosecution in a Beirut military court for his criticism two years ago, in Brussels, of the Syrian-backed Lebanese regime. Mr. Mugraby's alleged offense is that two years ago, in testimony to the European Parliament, he dared to defend the rights of Lebanese - and Arabs generally - to liberty and rule of law. During the years of blatant Syrian occupation, knowing that the main Beirut secret police offices and torture chambers were just around the corner from his family home, Mr. Mugraby repeatedly put himself in jeopardy by taking on cases of Lebanese citizens persecuted by the Syrian regime. He represented the families of people disappeared into the dungeons of Syria for what the Damascus-backed authorities deemed the offense of any contact with neighboring democratic Israel. Is Syrian hegemony really over? The test is not only whether Syria allows the UN investigation to proceed, but even more importantly whether Lebanese patriots themselves, such as Mr. Mugraby, will remain free to do their part for liberty and law in the Middle East.
2005-11-02 00:00:00
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