The Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar, has ordered the arrest of Egyptian dissident and poet Abdel-Rahman Youssef Qaradawi, who has been detained by Lebanese authorities since Dec. 28. He also sent two notes to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to inform them of this arrest and request the corresponding extradition requests.

Earlier, a senior judicial source told L'Orient-Le Jour that Qaradawi was going to be interrogated by the Lebanese judiciary. According to the judicial source contacted, Qaradawi "was arrested and detained at the Masnaa border crossing" as he was returning from Syria on Saturday. The General Security is expected to transfer him to Beirut today for questioning at the Attorney General's office. Before the interrogation, protesters gathered in front of the Beirut courthouse, demanding the dissident's immediate release, reported the state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Monday.

The arrest of Qaradawi, who is the son of Youssef Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who died in 2022, provoked significant outrage in Lebanon and abroad, leading to a protest in Beirut and the launch of an online petition calling for his release.

A Turkish passport

His arrest was conducted in coordination with the Egyptian government," based on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol," according to the NNA. However, no red notice, an Interpol notice addressed to law enforcement worldwide, has been published in the name of Abdel-Rahman Qaradawi on the international organization's website.

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Qaradawi entered Lebanon with a Turkish passport. According to Egyptian media, he is accused of inciting political unrest and spreading false information, accusations that many consider politically motivated. These accusations are linked to a series of convictions, including a three-year sentence for allegedly spreading false information and another three years for contempt of court. He is accused of allegedly "inciting political unrest."

These accusations stem from his harsh criticisms of Egyptian leaders, especially since the military coup of 2013 that overthrew former President Mohammad Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The latter, an organization declared a terrorist by the Egyptian government following the ousting of Morsi, is at the center of regime crackdowns. It is notably these repressions that Qaradawi denounces in his stances against the Egyptian government.

As calls for his release multiply, a petition has started circulating in the past two days, specifically demanding the cessation of "cross-border repression practices." The text condemns the alleged involvement of the Lebanese government in his detention, which it describes as a "blatant violation of international human rights obligations." It calls on Lebanon to "honor its commitments under international conventions, particularly the Convention Against Torture."

Thousands of opponents to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi have been imprisoned since the beginning of his rule.