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Protesters attack an agency of the Bank of Beirut. January 15, 2020. REUTERS / Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon has experienced an unprecedented protest movement for three months. Banks were again the target of popular anger on Wednesday. Dozens of arrests have taken place in the past 48 hours.

The protest movement against the government continues in Lebanon. Violence broke out on Wednesday evening and for the second evening in a row, between demonstrators and the police.

► Also read : " Week of anger ", clashes leave twenty injured

Popular anger was again expressed against the banks. The country is caught between political and economic crises and dozens of people had gathered in front of the Central Bank in Beirut but also in front of other establishments all over the country. Gatherings dispersed with batons and tear gas.

" Politicians who have shares in these banks "

Hani Hamzeh was among the protesters in Tripoli. " At the beginning of the revolution, there was always a certain direction [of anger] towards the banks, because it is known in Lebanon that the majority of politicians have shares in Lebanese banks," he explains. it at RFI. The whole monetary system was made, in a way, to give the advantage to these banks. "

Hani Hamzeh continues : “ We use two currencies, the Lebanese pound and the dollar, in our daily lives. However, there is no longer any dollar and the pound went, in these parallel markets, from 1,500 to 2,550 [for one dollar] . This means that people have lost more than 40% of their purchasing power and their wages. We are in an economic crisis, and private companies are laying people off or giving them half the salary. And in addition, there is an increase in the prices of all goods. "

Numerous arrests

Tuesday, " 59 people suspected of acts of vandalism and assaults " have been arrested, said law enforcement officials who also arrested on Wednesday - the number of which was not released - among a crowd calling for the release of detainees from the previous day.

But according to a list of names released by the " committee of lawyers for the defense of protesters" , of which AFP obtained a copy, 101 people are detained, 56 of whom were arrested on Wednesday evening - including five minors.

Over 80 injured

Thursday, the attorney general at the Court of Cassation, Ghassan Oueidate, however, ordered the release of all detainees except the perpetrators " of acts of vandalism or those subject to previous arrest warrants ", reported the National Information Agency (ANI).

The Lebanese Red Cross said it had treated 84 wounded in both camps after the clashes.