Police and soldiers deployed in front of a Blom Bank branch in Tariq al-Jadideh following the robbery of the branch on Sept. 16, 2022. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine)
BEIRUT — MPs Ashraf Rifi (Independant/Tripoli) and Mohammad Nabil Badr (Independent/Beirut II) have both spoken out against the arrest Saturday of Abed Soubra, the man behind the holdup Friday of a Blom Bank branch in the Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood of Beirut.
When Soubra initiated the holdup Friday in an effort to withdraw funds from his account at the bank, Rifi intervened on his behalf, while Badr later helped him leave the scene. The MPs criticized Soubra's arrest and denounced the fact that such a measure was not taken in relation to the holdups that took place almost simultaneously in other banks on the same day.
On Friday, Soubra, a father of four and owner of a cell phone store, stormed the bank branch at noon to retrieve his dollar deposits at the bank, which he had been unable to access due to the capital control restrictions imposed by commercial banking institutions since the summer of 2019. He eventually came out empty-handed after the intervention of Rifi and a Sunni sheikh, who acted as a mediator.
"The depositor who worked and saved his money in the banks for his children's education, health care or hard days is not a criminal. He is a good citizen who worked to protect himself and his family after the government left him without health care or social assistance," Rifi said in a statement. According to Rifi, "the political class that stole the depositors' money and wasted it on deals and fake projects is itself criminal." He also called on "judicial authorities to release any detainee who has claimed his rights or supported this just cause."
For his part, Badr wrote, in a message posted on Facebook and addressed to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Ghassan Oueidat, "If we helped Abed Soubra to get out of the bank, it is because we are convinced that he did not commit a crime or threaten anyone with a weapon. He even left the door of the bank open."
"All he did was stay inside and refuse to come out until he gets his stolen rights," Badr continued. "We had estimated that he would not incur any legal proceedings and were surprised to learn that he was arrested" he added.
Addressing Mikati and Oueidat, this former member of Saad Hariri's political camp said that this arrest "will not pass."
"You cannot give lessons by imposing the authority of the state on the people of Beirut only ..., while you remained silent and did not prosecute those who held up banks in other regions, although they recovered their money by resorting to weapons," Badr said.
Faced with multiple bank holdups carried out of late by depositors wanting to recover their own funds, the various Lebanese security services established Friday a "strict plan to impose law and order in the country in order to protect depositors and citizens," according to caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. However, no specific details of the plan were released.