Detained and beaten: A Lebanese activist talks to FRANCE 24 about his ordeal
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In Lebanon, dozens of activists have been arrested, some even beaten, since a wave of anti-government protests gripped the country. Our team of reporters met one protester who recounted his experience.
Khaldoun Jaber, a young activist from the Lebanese town of Hazmieh spoke to FRANCE 24 about his arrest in mid-November. While we were interviewing Jaber, intelligence services interrupted the filming of our report; the young activist has been under surveillance ever since his release.
Jaber says he was kidnapped, detained, beaten and interrogated.
Beyond the physical scars is the psychological trauma of the ordeal. With the help of his lawyer, Ayman Raad, Jaber is now seeking justice.
"He was attacked by a man in plain clothes who did not give his identity," said Raad. "They took him away and kidnapped him for 18 hours. It could have been a small group carrying out the militia or something else.They really behaved like a militia."
Khaldoun Jaber's case is not an isolated one. There have been deliberate attempts to intimidate other activists in Beirut and in Tyre, where 18 protesters are to be tried in the coming weeks.
Just two days after his release, Jaber returned to the protest site where he was arrested. He says he refuses to be silenced or deterred from protesting.
Click on the video player above to watch FRANCE 24's report by Nadia Massih and Mohamed Farhat.
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