Reporters Without Borders Urges Lebanon to Drop Journalist Rami Aysha's Court-Martial

An international media watchdog on Tuesday urged the Lebanese military court to withdraw all charges against journalist Rami Aysha, who faces trial by court-martial.

"We call not only for this military court to declare itself incompetent to try him but also for the withdrawal of all the charges," Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) head Christophe Deloire said in a statement.

Aysha works for several international news organizations including Time Magazine and Spiegel Online. He was arrested in southern Beirut on August 30 while researching a story on arms trafficking, and was released on bail in late September.

He is due to be tried in a military court on Wednesday.

"Aysha is a journalist, not a dealer or purchaser of firearms," said RSF.

During his nearly month-long detention, he was tortured by the security services, RSF said in October.

On Tuesday, the watchdog said the authorities must account for his arrest and mistreatment.

"The abusive behavior of the police, the police intelligence service and the military police must be investigated and those responsible must be punished," RSF added.