Injuries as ISF Forcibly Clears 'You Stink' Activists who Occupied Environment Ministry
Riot police forcibly removed protesters who had occupied part of the environment ministry in central Beirut on Tuesday following a several-hour standoff, which left several activists wounded.
Police gradually moved the several dozen protesters from the "You Stink" campaign down from the eighth floor of the building in downtown Beirut.
The Lebanese Red Cross said around 15 protesters were offered first aid on the spot while the activists Lucien Bourjeily and Nehmat Badreddine were rushed to hospital.
But after scuffles erupted outside the ministry later in the evening, the Red Cross said seven protesters were rushed to hospitals while 60 were given medical care on the ground.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said security forces did not use force against the protesters, promising to penalize anyone who beat up activists “if the reports turn out to be true.”
He later dispatched “his security team and a number of officers to the Environment Ministry to oversee the evacuation of the rest of protesters from the building and to ensure that they will not be assaulted under any circumstances,” state-run National News Agency reported.
However, the remaining 15 protesters said later in the evening that they were beaten up and forcibly ejected from the building.
They had refused to leave, insisting police would have to handcuff and remove them by force.
State-run National News Agency meanwhile said Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq left the ministry building late on Tuesday. Media reports said he left through a back entrance.
Several scuffles erupted outside the ministry building between security forces and protesters who arrived to express solidarity with the You Stink activists.
Some TV reporters and journalists said security forces had ordered them to leave the building before forcibly ejecting some of them.
The activists said they stormed the ministry building to push for the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq over his failure to resolve the country's waste crisis.
“We will stay here until our demands are met,” Imad Bazzi, one of the organizers of anti-government protests held by “You Stink,” said.
Another protester said: “This is our ministry. We will protect it. We don't need the presence of security forces," which deployed heavily at the building's entrance and blocked it.
In their surprise action, the activists chanted “Mashnouq out” and urged the ministry employees and Lebanese citizens to join them.
In a video footage, they were seen sitting cross-legged on the floor, clapping hands and shouting slogans against the minister.
But al-Mashnouq refused to resign, telling TV stations: “I am carrying out my duties.”
He said he was at his office on the building's 8th floor and urged security forces to assume their responsibilities.
But the activists urged the minister to come out of his office and address the protesters, saying they refused to send a representative to negotiate with al-Mashnouq.
Informed sources later said that Prime Minister Tammam Salam would not accept Mashnouq's resignation should he take such a step.
They added that the minister is “being wrongfully held responsible for a crisis which dates back to years and which the political powers have shied away from resolving.”
Some protesters had suffered from fainting spells due to the poor ventilation at the building after the windows were shut and air-conditioning was turned off.
Meanwhile, al-Mustaqbal bloc warned that “storming the Environment Ministry serves the interests of those seeking chaos in Lebanon,” rejecting what it called “pressure for the resignation of any minister or official in this coup-like manner.”
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat who had previously voiced his support for the activists' demands said via Twitter: “The occupation of the environment minister's office is not a solution to the waste crisis or any other problem.”
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun also expressed his support for the youth's demands, but advised them instead to focus their attention towards the adoption of a new electoral law, staging of parliamentary elections, and election of a new president.
During its last protest in downtown Beirut on Saturday, “You Stink” issued a 72-hour ultimatum for the authorities to meet their demands, including the resignation of the environment minister, holding Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq accountable for police violence in previous demonstrations, and releasing funds for municipalities to begin their own garbage management programs.
In longer term goals, the activist group called for new parliamentary elections and the election of a president to fill a post that has been vacant since May last year due to political squabbling.
The waste crisis erupted after the closure of the Naameh landfill that lies south of Beirut on July 17.
G.K./Y.R.
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