Event Summary
On 20 July 2025, Lebanese investigative journalist Hajar Knio was detained by General Security officers for hours at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport under an order from military court government commissioner. The detention was based on allegations of collaboration with Israel, and she was later released but instructed to report for further questioning at the General Security Investigation Branch at the National Museum. Her electronic devices remained seized. Knio denied any contact with Israeli entities, explaining that her reporting references publicly available sources rather than direct communication. She suggested that the detention stems from her investigative reporting on drug‑trafficking networks and her criticism of Hezbollah.
Civil society groups such as Journalists for Freedom condemned the detention, calling it a retaliatory attempt to intimidate dissenting voices and attack journalists. The case shows a deteriorating situation of press freedom, where the space for independent investigative reporting is steadily shrinking.