Gebran Tueni

Gebran Ghassan Tueni (; 15 September 1957 – 12 December 2005) was a Lebanese politician and the former editor and publisher of daily paper An Nahar, established by his grandfather, also named Gebran Tueni, in 1933. He was assassinated in 2005 as part of a series of assassinations of Syria's critics in Lebanon.

Early life Gebran Tueni was born in Beirut on 15 September 1957. His father, Ghassan Tueni, was born into a prominent Lebanese Greek Orthodox family of Syrian descent, and was a veteran journalist and politician. His mother was the Francophone, Lebanese Druze poet, Nadia Hamadeh. His paternal grandfather was Gebran Tueni, a famous journalist and an Arab Renaissance figure who founded Al Ahrar and later on An Nahar. Gebran Tueni was named after his grandfather. His maternal grandfather, Mohammed Ali Hamadeh, was a diplomat and writer.

Education Tueni received Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from École des Hautes Études in 1980. At the same period, he studied journalism at Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Paris and graduated in 1980. He also studied management at CEDEP-INSEAD in 1992.

He came to international prominence in March 2000 when he wrote a front-page letter to Bashar al-Assad, son and then-heir apparent to then-Syrian president Hafez al-Assad calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon With this editorial, he broke an important press taboo.

In March 2005, he contributed to the Cedar Revolution demonstrations during which he gave the speech, "In the name of God We, Muslims and Christians, Pledge that united we shall remain to the end of time to better defend our Lebanon". In May 2005, he was elected a member of Parliament of Lebanon for the Eastern Orthodox Christian seat in Beirut's first district on an anti-Syrian slate, namely Martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Beirut Decision List, led by Saad Hariri.

Views Tueni was a staunch advocate for freedom of speech and promoted critical discourse regarding the regime of Hafez al-Assad. He viewed Bashar al-Assad as a "new generation" leader and harbored hopes that his leadership would finally herald a transformation in Syria's political dynamics concerning Lebanon.

Assassination and burial Although Tueni continued his editorials in An Nahar, he was out of Beirut until shortly before his death. After the assassination of Rafic Hariri, he learned that he was on the top of a hit list and started taking preventative steps, like switching cars every other day.

Tueni was assassinated by a car bomb on 12 December 2005 in Mkalles, an industrial suburb of Beirut, while he drove from his home in Beit Meri (Mount Lebanon) to his newspaper's offices in Beirut's Martyrs' Square. Two of his bodyguards were also killed in the blast. He was the seventh target in a series of assassinations of politicians, journalists and security personnel that had begun in Lebanon in 2005. According to sources his assassination among several others, were executed by Unit 121, as part of Hezbollah's policy.

His body was buried at Saint Dimitrius church graves after the funeral that took place at Saint George church in Beirut. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the streets of Beirut for Tueni's funeral on 14 December 2005. Many mourners blamed Syria for his death due to his anti-Syrian policy and they chanted anti-Syrian slogans. The members of the Lebanese parliament also observed a moment of silence during a special parliamentary session. Continuing the play on words with "An nahar" (The Day), family members stated that night would not fall on the newspaper.

Reactions and perpetrators Initial reports published in Elaph indicated that a hitherto unknown group, "Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom of al-Sham" (where al-Sham refers to ancient Greater Syria) claimed responsibility. The statement taking responsibility was also faxed to Reuters and included a warning that the same fate awaited other opponents of "Arabism" in Lebanon, claiming that the assassination has succeeded in "shutting up" a traitor, and "turning An-Nahar (Arabic for Day) into ″Dark Night″.

Several anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians blamed Syria. However, Syrian authorities denied responsibility or complicity and stated that the crime was aimed at directing fresh accusations against Syria.

Lawsuit Boutros Harb is the lawyer of the Tueni family, and filed a lawsuit in October 2012 against two Syrian officers due to their alleged roles in Gebran Tueni's assassination.

Personal life Gebran Tueni was first married to Mirna Murr. The couple had two daughters, Nayla and Michelle. Mirna Murr is the daughter of Michel Murr, a Lebanese politician. They later divorced. His second spouse was Siham Asseily. He had twin daughters, Gabriella and Nadia, from his second marriage, who were just a few months old when he was killed.

The award has been given to the following journalists and media figures: 2012: Ali Farzat, Syrian cartoonist 2010: Aboubakr Jamaï, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, Morocco 2009: Asos Hardi, Awene, Iraqi Kurdistan 2008: Ibrahim Essa, Al Dustour, Egypt 2007: Michel Hajji Georgiou, L'Orient Le Jour, Lebanon 2006: Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Yemen Times, Yemen

Gebran Tueni Human Rights Fellowship Program The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Hariri Foundation-USA launched the Gebran G. Tueni Human Rights Fellowship Program on 21 January 2009. The Fellows were planned to undertake a major research project focusing on the areas of freedom of speech, arbitrary detention, or discrimination against minorities, displaced populations, or other vulnerable groups in one or more countries in the Middle East.