Photo published on Twitter by @bdalebanon announcing the release of Abdallah al-Sai.
BEIRUT — A judge in the Bekaa Thursday evening ordered the release of Abdallah al-Sai, who had taken the employees of a bank in Bekaa area of Jeb Jenine hostage and threatened to set the establishment on fire in response the bank’s refusal to allow him to withdraw $50,000 from his account, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the Bekaa reported.
Here’s what we know:
• On Jan. 18, Abdallah al-Sai took hostage dozens of employees and the people that were present in the branch of the Bank of Beirut and Arab Countries of Jeb Jennine, in the Bekaa. The man later surrendered himself to the police, without any casualties being reported. The funds he managed to obtain from the bank were also returned.
• Sai has since the incident been considered a hero among many who have suffered as a result of de facto capital controls since the emergence of Lebanon’s unprecedented economic crisis in October 2019, which has caused the national currency to lose more than 90 percent of its value on the parallel market.
• The Lebanese population, more than three-quarters of whom live below the poverty line according to the United Nations, are struggling to survive amid soaring inflation, electricity cuts and medication shortages.