Protesters gather in front of Parliament in Beirut decrying illegal bank restrictions on their deposits, May 9, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Dozens of exasperated bank depositors protested in front of Parliament in Beirut Tuesday morning, decrying illegal restrictions imposed by local banks on withdrawals and transfers since 2019. The protest degenerated into scuffles between protestors and security members of Bank Audi branch in downtown Beirut.
The Depositors’ Cry, a rights group, had called on supporters over the past week to denounce the banking measures and demand their deposits.
'We will find you'
“Give us back our money that you stole from us," one protester was heard chanting by L'Orient Today. "It's our money or your life. You started a war that we will finish."
“We will find you wherever you are," said another protestor.
Scuffles arose between protestors and security members guarding Bank Audi in downtown, who sprayed some protestors with pepper spray.
A protester faces Lebanese soldiers during a protest near Parliament in Beirut, May 9, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
The Depositors' Cry member Talal Khalil told L'Orient Today that bank security personnel "broke" his arm. "We wanted to protest outside of Bank Audi, write [slogans] on the walls and burn tires, just like we usually do. We were surprised that security personnel from the bank, carrying batons, attacked us and wounded several [people]."
"The [internal] security forces just stood there doing nothing," Khalil added. "Is this how citizens who came here to protest against the banks should be treated? We didn't even go inside the bank premises — we stayed outside."
Protesters were seen destroying the bank's ATM machine and burning tires. Protestors then headed toward the nearby residence of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to demonstrate in front of it, where they also burned tires.
They then said they were headed toward the Association of Banks in Lebanon to continue their protest.
Protesters burn tires near the residence of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut, May 9, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
Since the economic crisis began in 2019, banks have imposed informal but draconian restrictions on withdrawals while the Lebanese lira lost more than 95 percent of its value, drastically axing the purchasing power of many citizens.
In February, protesters attacked banks and blocked roads across Lebanon amid continued currency volatility.
The Depositors’ Cry claimed credit at the time for setting fire to branches of Fransabank, Bank Audi, Creditbank, Byblos Bank, BBAC and Banque Libano-Française in Beirut’s Badaro neighborhood.
Members of the same group also held a sit-in that same day in Horsh Tabet, a suburb of Beirut, outside the home of Selim Sfeir, the head of the Association of Banks in Lebanon.
The February protests happened as the banks were on strike to demand that Parliament pass a capital control law. The banks also decried the overturn of an appeal allowing the resumption of legal proceedings by depositors insisting on retrieving funds in dollars from Fransabank.
Protesters gather in front of Parliament in Beirut decrying illegal bank restrictions on their deposits, May 9, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
In March, a protest by depositors and military retirees in downtown Beirut escalated after security forces fired tear gas at the crowd.
During the same month, members of the The Depositors’ Cry group burnt tires and protested in front of the Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut after a week of wildly fluctuating exchange rates saw the Lebanese lira dip to an all-time low of around LL140,000 to the dollar.
Central bank probe
On Thursday, depositors' rights associations staged a sit-in in front of Beirut Justice Palace, where a European judicial delegation probing alleged corruption is questioning Raja Salameh, the brother of Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh.
The associations "Our Money is Ours" and "Caliber" called on the delegation to stand in solidarity with Judge Ghada Aoun, who had charged BDL and commercial banks and was dismissed by a disciplinary council of Lebanese judges on Thursday.
The Salameh brothers are suspected of having embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of BDL funds that were allegedly stored in European real estate and bank deposits. These funds were seized amid probes into the central bank chief by at least five European countries. Salameh and his associates have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Banks had been operating under security restrictions for months after a series of holdups by depositors attempting to forcibly retrieve their own foreign currency funds, which have largely been frozen since 2019 by informal capital control measures.
Lebanon has been stalling on reforms required by the International Monetary Fund in return for a multi-billion-dollar bailout package. IMF officials have previously said the country is in the midst of "a very dangerous moment," and criticized the slow pace of reforms.
Additional reporting by Mohammad Yassin
