Lebanon is better off when it comes to free expression. As a fragile democracy where power is shared by a range of political and religious groups, it has no dictator who can impose his will. On the contrary, it hosts an array of newspapers and television channels that cater to different tastes and are funded by political groups and powerful individuals to promote their agendas and undermine their rivals. The Constitution also guarantees freedom of speech.

Still, some of the country’s laws lay down red lines. It is a crime to libel or defame foreign leaders and public officials or to insult the president, the flag, the army or other national symbols. Other laws ban blasphemy and speech deemed insulting to religion.

In the past, they have been inconsistently enforced, and it is the recent rise in speech-related cases that is worrying journalists and human rights campaigners.

Marcel Ghanem, a popular talk show host, was summoned for questioning in cases against two Saudis who accused the Lebanese president and speaker of Parliament of links to terrorism while appearing as guests on his program. When he refused to show up, in protest of the charges, he was charged with obstruction of justice.

Last month, a military court sentenced the political analyst Hanin Ghaddar in absentia to six months in prison for comments deemed insulting to the Lebanese Army, in a talk in Washington in 2014.

Human Rights Watch documented other cases in a recent report: an activist summoned for questioning and detained over comments he made on Facebook; a man detained for writing a post that was perceived as insulting the Virgin Mary; and an Islamist organizer who was arrested and charged with defaming the president and insulting “a brotherly country.”

In an interview, Salim Jreissati, Lebanon’s justice minister, denied an attack on free speech in Lebanon, comparing those who promoted such an idea to Don Quixote’s attacking windmills.