After the Attorney General of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, decided to detain comedian Nour Hajjar, he was released this Tuesday evening on bail. Hajjar is being pursued following a lawsuit filed against him by the Dar al-Fatwa. Lawyer Diala Shhada pointed out that the maximum detention period is 48 hours, which can only be renewed once. Hajjar was detained by a criminal investigation patrol despite not being officially notified of the lawsuit against him by Dar al-Fatwa.
Hajjar's lawyer confirmed that her client provided a statement at the criminal investigation office and clarified that the mentioned joke was part of a satirical performance from over five years ago, thus too much time has passed for legal action to be initiated. Regarding the content, Hajjar stated that the joke is excerpted and is based on a conversation he had with his mother and does not involve mockery or belittlement of religions, noting that the circulated joke is a small part of a performance lasting over thirty minutes.
Claims against Hajjar began as Shari'a Judge Sheikh Wael Shbaro filed a complaint against him on Monday, August 28, for mocking verses from the Holy Quran, especially since the act was public and occurred in front of an audience. It is worth noting that the joke involving religion is about five years old.
