Lebanese journalist Radwan Mortada is sentenced to 13 months in prison

Radwan Mortada, a reporter for the daily Al-Akhbar and the website The Cradle, was sentenced to thirteen months in prison by the Permanent Military Court of Beirut on November 26.

Mortada was charged following an interview he gave to local broadcaster Al-Jadeed on January 9 in which he criticized Lebanese authorities' handling of the Beirut port explosion, as well as the military's failure to prevent it. 

On August 4, 2020, Mortada suggested that Joseph Aoun, the army commander, was responsible for the storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port of Beirut, leading to an explosion that destroyed several districts of Beirut and killed more than 200 people. Lebanese soldiers considered the words "outrageous". 

The journalist was not present at the court hearing​.​