Lebanese comic fights for survival after free-speech sanctions

A Lebanese satirical comic last week threw what may prove to be either its final launch party – or the first of its resurrection. The event marked Samandal magazine’s attempt to crowdfund its way out of oblivion after three of its editors were convicted of crimes against religion and fined for their work, nearly putting the experimental comics collective out of business.

For five years, editors of the Beirut-based magazine kept fairly quiet about their legal troubles.

In 2010, editors Omar Khouri, Hatem Imam, and Fadi Baki were charged with “inciting sectarian strife”, “denigrating religion”, “publishing false news” and “defamation and slander” for two comics that appeared in the seventh issue of Samandal.

“Our lawyer said that this was an absurd case and we’d definitely win it in court,” Baki told the Guardian by email. “He wasn’t too excited about having the media publicising it because he didn’t want it to affect what he thought would be an easy decision for the judges.”

The case dragged on for five years, after which the three were surprised to be found guilty. Within two weeks, they’d lost an appeal.

The offending comics – Ecce Homo by Valfret and Lebanese Recipes for Revenge by Lena Merhej – are both online, although not at the Samandal site for fear of incurring additional charges. The first is in French and the second in Arabic as the magazine, like Lebanon, is multilingual.

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Valfret, a French artist, depicts a Roman centurion regretting sex with another man, then blaming it on one of the new Christians: “C’est toi qui est PD.” (“You’re the one who’s gay.”) Merhej’s literalises the colloquial phrase “yahriq deenak”. While a dictionary translation might be “[May God] burn your religion”, Lebanese scholar Elias Muhanna notes that the phrase “usually telegraphs exasperation rather than sectarian abuse”. To illustrate the saying, Merhej’s comic shows a priest and an imam being set on fire.

This is just a tiny fragment of Samandal’s output. “The assumption that we built a platform such as Samandal to take cheap shots at religious institutions is absurd, and the richness of our publications speaks for themselves,” editors wrote on their website. “We respect all religions equally and have no interest in targeting any single one for ridicule. However, we have no respect, and in fact much contempt, for those who use religion as a way of exercising their power and tightly policing public discourse.”

As Samandal editors fought the proceedings, they continued to produce award-winning comics that inspired others in Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, and beyond. After Samandal came Cairo’s massively successful TokTok, which launched in 2011, as well as Shakmagia, Autostrade, Out of Control and numerous others. Arab countries have a long history of cartooning, but Samandal launched a new kind of collaborative, experimental storytelling.

“The anthology format provided the opportunity for many different artists to express their experiences and ideas,” according to comics scholar Nadim Damluji. “It really was like a beacon call – or more appropriately a bat signal – for all artists to come out of the woodwork and find a community.”

“You know the myth that everyone who bought the first Velvet Underground album formed a band?” Damluji later said on Twitter. “IMO Samandal is the Arab version of that.”

Although their texts might be taboo in some neighbouring countries, it was reasonable for Samandal editors to trust their country’s judicial process. Religion is certainly a sensitive topic in a country that lived through a 15-year, sectarian civil war, but Lebanon is a relatively free environment, and one of the main hubs of Arab publishing.

Yet after five years of legal proceedings, Samandal’s editors were found guilty of violating article 25 of the country’s publications law, and on 28 April, they were fined LL10,000,000 (£4,300) each. The three also had “warrants of subjugation” issued against them.

“I’ve had my passport detained for weeks, without any explanation, twice,” Baki said. “It affects travel, it affects any interactions with the police and internal security – I’m a film-maker as well, and shooting permits might be unnecessarily delayed or denied. And because of its para-legal status, the warrant is not something that can be challenged in courts.”

After a period of demoralisation, the comics collective decided to fight back. When Samandal hosted the launch of what might be their last issue – Geography – they also launched a crowdfunding campaign.

The drive, which seeks $60,000 (£39,000), has a long way to go. It raised more than $5,000 in its first five days, but Baki was not overly optimistic.

“We’ve been dedicated to Samandal out of a love for comics, and this unmerited and harsh ruling has been a violent slap in the face,” he said. “Unless the crowdfunding campaign picks us up again, I think this might be the end for us.”