Civil Defense volunteers evacuating residents during clashes in the Tayyouneh district, in the suburbs of Beirut, on Oct. 14, 2021. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT —Georges Touma, the last of the residents of the Ain al-Rummaneh neighborhood still detained in connection to the clashes in Tayyouneh on Oct. 14, 2021, was released on Wednesday, Eliane Fakhry, the lawyer of these detainees, told L'Orient-Le Jour.
The Tayyouneh clashes in Beirut's southern suburbs began during a protest last year called by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to demand the removal of the lead judge in the port blast investigation, Tarek Bitar. The clashes are thought to have escalated when someone from the Ain al-Rummaneh area started firing on the crowd. The clashes left seven people dead, including six men close to Hezbollah and Amal and a civilian woman. Several dozen people were injured.
After the clashes, 46 residents of Ain al-Rummaneh were wanted by the courts. Nineteen of them were arrested and charged with "murder, attempted murder, inciting sectarian discord and forming an armed group," Fakhry said. Georges Touma was the last of these residents to be released on bail.
"There was no concrete evidence to arrest them. Three quarters of them were at home when the clashes took place, the others were simply defending themselves while the neighborhood was being attacked by residents of Chiyah," said Fakhry.
Three people from the Chiyah neighborhood are still in detention.