(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese satirist Charbel Khalil is under fire for allegedly defaming Islam on Twitter.
Khalil appeared before a prosecutor on Monday after Dar al-Fatwa, the top Sunni religious authority in Lebanon, filed a complaint against him to the courts.
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian urged Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi to take action against Khalil, after he posted a photo of a woman lying on a black bed-cover with the Islamic slogan, “There is no God but God and Mohammed is his Prophet” in Arabic.
The black bed cover resembled the banner of the Islamic State group and it was accompanied with the words, “Sexual jihad under the Prophet’s umbrella.”
Khalil appeared before the prosecutor at Beirut’s Justice Palace with his lawyer MP Ibrahim Kanaan. He said the photo meant to shed light on the harm being done by Islamic State militants to Islam.
State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud referred the case to the State Prosecutor of Appeals Claude Karam after he found that there was enough evidence to try Khalil.
Khalil’s friends, colleagues, and supporters gathered outside of court with black ribbons around their mouths to signify government censorship.
Many of them held signs reading “Je Suis Charbel”, comparing Khalil’s case to the Charlie Hebdo Magazine in Paris. The magazine headquarters came under fire on January 7 by a group that killed 11 people and injured 11 others over an alleged critical photo of Prophet Mohammed.
Khalil is the director of comedy program “Basmat Watan,” which airs on LBC-TV. The program pokes fun at politicians of all political backgrounds and religions.
In 2006, Khalil came under fire after airing a satire comedy of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, sparking street demonstrations and tire burnings in Beirut.