Resident murdered in Achrafieh upper-crust neighborhood

“We’re in shock. We’re so scared now,” the janitor told a biker at the entrance hall to the affluent building in Achrafieh’s Sioufi neighborhood.

One of the front doors on the fifth floor is marked with red wax. On Sunday evening, N. al-Turk*, an 84-year-old man paralyzed since he had a stroke in 2017, was killed after he came back home from a walk with his wife during a burglary.

The army’s intelligence services arrested on Wednesday three suspects, along with the Syrian national domestic worker, said a source within the institution. “We are so relieved, all the building and Beirut residents. But the damage was already done, may he rest in peace,” said Mona Matar, a neighbor on the fourth floor, after the announcement.

A life between Lebanon and France

This incident shook public opinion because it happened in the heart of an upmarket neighborhood. “We’re talking about a security zone par excellence in the heart of the capital,” Peter Germanos, a former military court judge, wrote on X.

“We’ve never witnessed anything like this,” said Matar. “The cameras are everywhere here,” she added.

For the past 15 years, the couple had led a peaceful life in this residence and continued to travel back and forth to France, where N. al-Turk had long worked in import-export. Three children aged 40 to 45, including a daughter who lives in Canada and two sons in Lebanon and France, are the product of their “love marriage.”

“He wanted to take advantage of the presence of each of their sons,” said Malek al-Turk, their Parisian son, after the funeral. “He liked to have coffee with me on the terraces, spoiling his grandchildren ... A grandfather the Lebanese way,” he added. “He was a helper, a globetrotter, who loved life,” said Malek. Even after the stroke, he insisted on “living life to the fullest.”

The victim's apartment doorbell. (Credit: Matthieu Karam)

But on March 31, the life of this Beirut family was turned upside down. While the couple were out for a stroll, their housekeeper, whom they hired five days earlier through an agency, let two men in balaclavas into the apartment, stated Malek.

It was nearly 6 p.m. when they returned home. The intruders tied them up, beat them and stole valuables before fleeing.

“In the media, beforehand, it was said that the stolen sum amounted to 1,000 euros, but that’s not true. They wanted to steal the jewels, which are priceless,” added Malek, who seemed evasive about what was stolen. His mother, 72, managed to free herself and knocked at the door of her neighbor Matar. “She had bruises on her face and tape around her neck,” she said.

Matar’s husband rushed upstairs to inquire about their neighbor’s condition. He and other residents immediately ran back downstairs to call for help. One of the couple’s children, who lives nearby, arrived in a hurry and tried to resuscitate his father.

“Contrary to what some media initially claimed, my father was not stabbed, but succumbed to internal hemorrhaging caused by the blows,” recounted Malek, who arrived from France the following day while the crime’s perpetrators were still at large.

A feeling of insecurity

Three days after the crime, the army’s intelligence services revealed the identity of the suspects: The housekeeper and three other alleged accomplices.

“They are all Syrian. The woman arrested was smuggled into Lebanon, and we have no information about the other three,” said the source.

“We will continue to follow the case in the hope that the judiciary will do its utmost to impose the harshest sentences on the culprits and that all security agencies will intensify their work to prevent further crimes,” said MP Ghassan Hasbani.

After a municipal policeman was killed in Gemmayzeh in January, the MP announced the launch of a tabligh (Arabic for report), calling on the residents of Beirut to report any breach of the law via this online platform “by those who are illegally present in the area,” in a bid to assist the security forces, the Lebanese Forces (LF) press release said.

The link between the growing feeling of insecurity and the presence of Syrian refugees, which the government estimated at 1.5 million in a country in deep economic and social crisis, was once again being hammered home by other local political figures.

In October 2023, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi claimed that Syrian nationals committed 30 percent of crimes. This figure is disputed by several organizations, including Human Rights Watch, which believes that these stats should be treated carefully given the number of crimes that go unpunished.

In August 2023, a report by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) showed that the reported crime rate in Lebanon fell by 38 percent in the first seven months of 2023 compared with the previous year.

“The murder of N. al-Turk in Achrafieh proves that the solution lies not in organizing the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but rather in their return to their country, which is safe,” Naji Hayek, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), wrote on X.

“The heinous crime that took place in Achrafieh shows that the issue of displaced Syrians should be dealt with in an official, responsible and firmer manner, given that it now has a security aspect, while the crime rate among these displaced persons is increasing and targeting Lebanese,” said former minister Michel Pharaon.

Matar expressed a distrust in the authorities. “I hope the sentence will be severe so that such a crime never happens again. But in this country, impunity reigns,” she added.

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated by Joelle El Khoury.