Protests at Military Tribunal, Interior Ministry to Press for Release of Detainees

Civil society activists held sit-ins near the military tribunal in the Mathaf area and the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh on Friday to call for the release of those detained during a protest they held a day earlier in downtown Beirut.

Security forces used water cannons and eventually fired tear gas canisters on Thursday night to disperse dozens of anti-government protesters who tried to get past security barricades and reach parliament.

Police had erected new barricades near An Nahar daily building to keep the protesters away from the parliament and government offices.

By late Thursday, some protesters tried to break the security cordons, prompting authorities to use water cannons. Protesters lobbed rocks and water bottles at the security forces.

The clashes caused heavy damages to the nearby DT restaurant and the entrance of Hotel Le Gray, said the Internal Security Forces.

One of the lawyers of civil society activists said that more than 60 demonstrators were arrested during the protest. Some of them need medical care, he told LBCI.

However, later on Friday Prosecutor Samir Hammoud told LBCI television that 33 protesters were arrested during the clashes "of whom nine have been released – 5 young women and 4 minors."

"The interrogation of the detainees is still ongoing and videos and pictures are being reviewed. Those not involved in acts of violence will be freed within two hours," Hammoud told LBCI in the evening.

Meanwhile, civil society protesters held a road-blocking sit-in outside the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh to press for the release of the detainees.

Earlier in the day, the lawyers of the detainees said they told State Commissioner to the Military Court Judqe Saqr Saqr that the tribunal cannot bring civilians into trial.

The lawyers said they also called for the release of all the detainees because their right is protected by the Constitution.

But according to them, Saqr said they cannot be set free until measures are taken against them.

Dozens were also injured during Thursday's protest. George Kettaneh from the Red Cross said 39 injured policemen and demonstrators were transported to hospitals.

The protests against Lebanon's ruling elite came as a result of the garbage crisis that activists warn has become a menace to public health. 

The crisis began in July when the closure of the Naameh landfill, Lebanon's largest, caused rubbish to pile up on Beirut's roadsides, in parking lots and river beds.

G.K./Y.R.