Highlight:
- Employees were taken hostage and money was withdrawn from the bank.
- The youth was arrested by the police.
- People supporting the young man and his wife.
Abdullah bought the money from a branch of the BBC, a Lebanese bank in the town of Jeb Janine in the Becca Valley, where there were strict restrictions on withdrawing money from banks amid a severe financial crisis. Bank officials said they needed more money for business purposes, but did not pay. The young man came to the bank with the clear idea that he could not go about his business without getting at least fifty thousand dollars from the bank.
Abdullah threatened employees with a handgun and a grenade when he was told by bank employees he could not pay more than allowed. When the employees did not pay despite pointing their guns, he threatened to kill himself except for the petrol he was carrying. With this, the employees paid half of the investment.
Bank officials informed the police after the young man returned with the money. Abdullah was taken into custody and arrested by the police. The police demanded that the young man’s wife Sally pay the money taken from the bank. The news came after the police jailed Sally for not paying. Sally began a hunger strike in jail to protest police action.
The allegations against Sally and her husband were made in court by the police and the Bank Employees Association. The prosecution described Abdullah’s action as a terrorist act, saying Abdullah’s move undermined the government’s efforts to recover from the financial crisis. The bank employees’ union told the court that Sally had eliminated the opportunity to work without fear and that more people would now adopt this approach.
The bank’s investors’ association came to the fore after an attempt was made in court to convict the couple for failing to withdraw their money. Dina Abu Saur, president of the Bank Investors’ Association and Sally’s lawyer, said the banks were robbing people and should not be allowed to withdraw their money. Protests intensified and thousands of people came out in support of Sally.
According to police, the money was handed over to Abdullah’s wife Sally. Lebanese banks have stopped lending dollars since the end of 2019 due to the financial crisis. The Lebanese pound is allowed to be withdrawn in exchange for the dollar. The Lebanese pound is 65 percent lower than the market rate.
No funds, no building; Bananas are in the PHC ‘ventilator’ itself