Lebanon: a robber who wanted to take justice himself considered a hero

Security forces in front of the Federal Bank in Beirut, capital of Lebanon, on August 11, 2022. © ANWAR AMRO/AFP

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2 mins

A bank robber, considered a hero in Lebanon, continues a hunger strike to protest his arrest.

Bassam Cheikh Hussein took bank employees and customers hostage on Thursday August 11 to demand the withdrawal of his blocked savings.

The high-profile incident had ended with the payment of 15% of his savings, the release of the hostages and a promise that he would not be arrested.

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With our correspondent in Beirut,

Despite using a firearm and threatening to set fire to a bank branch where he had

, Bassam Cheikh Hussein arouses the sympathy of a large part of public opinion in Lebanon.

This 40-year-old father began his second day of hunger strike on Sunday to protest against his arrest.

His family and relatives demonstrated to demand his release, accusing the security forces of not having kept the promise to release him.

Embodiment of Lebanese despair

Bassam Sheikh Hussein embodies the despair of hundreds of thousands of depositors whose savings have lost two-thirds of their value and who no longer have access to their savings due to banking restrictions.

The robber is accused of having wanted to take justice into his own hands, by demanding by force of arms that his savings be returned to him to pay the medical expenses of his sick father.

His fate will be decided on Tuesday, August 16.

But the task of the prosecutor will not be easy: if he chooses severity, he risks provoking the anger of some of the Lebanese for whom Bassam Cheikh Hussein is a hero.

If the prosecution shows leniency, it fears encouraging other filers to follow its example.

►Also read: Report - The anger of the Lebanese in the face of an economic crisis that drags on on the eve of the legislative elections

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