A realistic series, imposed by the crisis that Lebanon is going through, its episodes are similar, as well as its heroes who share one goal, which is to recover their deposits from Lebanese banks that they storm with real or plastic military weapons. As for the scenario of the end of each episode, it differs, between those who achieve what they aspire to and those who fail.
After the bank storming operations were limited, occurring during relatively separate periods of time, the Lebanese were surprised last Friday by a “wave of incursions” that affected a large number of banks in different regions, with the expectation that the coming days will witness more similar operations, amidst the fear that they will exit Things are out of control, after previous incursions passed peacefully.
Three years during which the depositors waited for the state to return their rights, and for the banks to pay their money that they seized without legal justification, but even the solutions that are discussed from time to time, such as the “Capital Control” law, are not in their interest, and with the intensification of the economic crisis, and the fantastically high dollar exchange rate With the deterioration of purchasing power, a number of depositors found no option but to recover their rights by force.
The bank storming operations prompted the Lebanese Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, to call for an emergency meeting of the Central Internal Security Council to discuss the security measures that can be taken in light of the emerging events. He can disclose the details of the confidentiality of the investigation and we deal wisely with the matter, “Our goal is to protect the country and the depositors, and one of them should not push the depositor to harm the security situation in the country, and our strictness with security measures is not aimed at protecting banks, but rather protecting the Lebanese system.”
Molloy pointed out that “the Public Prosecutor of Discrimination took a written indication about this type of behavior, and the security forces had a decision to strictly enforce the law to protect the whole country.”
legal controversy
To defend the rights of depositors and make their cry known, several associations have emerged, including the “Depositors Association.” According to its lawyer, Hassan Bazzi, “Entering to a public or private institution with its doors open is not considered an occupation, which eliminates the crime of entry by force.”
In defending depositors who break into banks, lawyers rely on Article 184 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which relates to the right of legitimate defense, or the fulfillment of the right arbitrarily, as it states that “the exercise of the right of every act dictated by it is a current necessity to pay off an unjustified and unmotivated exposure, property, or the person or the property of a third party, and the natural person and the legal person are equal in protection.”
And “Article 228 – Penalties” states that “if the perpetrator of the crime excessively exercised the right of legitimate defense, he shall not be punished if he commits the act in an outburst of intense emotion with which he lacks the strength of his consciousness or his will.”
But at the same time, Lebanese law prevents the fulfillment of the right in person, in certain conditions stipulated in Article 429 of the Lebanese Penal Code, where it stated, according to the former Governor of Beirut, Judge Ziad Shabib, “He who fulfills his right to himself is the oldest and is able to review the authority with authority immediately.” Anyone who takes money from someone else’s possession or uses violence against things and damages them, shall be punished with a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand pounds.”
Judge Shabib added in an interview with Al-Hurra website, “Article 430 tightens the punishment if the act mentioned in the previous article is committed by violence against persons or by resorting to moral coercion, with imprisonment of the perpetrator for six months at most, in addition to the fine previously specified, and his punishment is imprisonment from three months to Two years if violence or coercion is used by an armed person or a group of three or more persons, even if they are unarmed.
He also points out that Article 431 of the Lebanese Penal Code stipulates that “the prosecution shall stop on the complaint of the injured party, if the aforementioned misdemeanour is not associated with another crime that may be prosecuted without a complaint.”
While Judge Shabib believes that storming the banks raises legal controversy, Bazzi believes that “the conditions for not prosecuting the intruders of the banks are available legally, in light of the judges’ seclusion. In view of the application of Article 184, since the depositor does not have a reference to fulfill his right, the judges are on strike, and the banks do not respond to the provisions of the legal contracts between them and the depositors, and the case of necessity is the collection of money for the ability to live, medical care and education.
In an interview with Al-Hurra, the lawyer stresses that “the depositors did not recover their deposit or part of it by theft, meaning that they did not take an amount from the fund before they left the place, but rather signed a receipt for the value of the money they received, and this act is not criminal.”
With regard to the interaction of the security forces and the judiciary with the intruders of the banks, he indicates that “one of the depositors was released after the bank forfeited his right, and when the personal right was dropped, the public right fell, and the Public Prosecution considered what happened as a fulfillment of the right as a control, but we are waiting for what the prosecution will take The general public has the right to the rest of the intruders, on which to build our defense.”
Today, a number of revolutionaries and the families of the detainees, Muhammad Rostom, and Abdel Rahman Zakaria, who helped the depositor, Sally Hafez, storm the “BLOM Bank” to obtain her deposit last week, in front of the Palace of Justice in Beirut, to demand their release, and a problem arose between them and the elements From the Lebanese army, who tried to keep them away from the entrance to the palace.
quality suit
The deposit is not cash actually present in the bank’s treasury or treasury, but rather a legal obligation, according to what Judge Shabib says, who stresses that “the policy of banks closing their doors since the start of the crisis in 2019 until today and convincing depositors that a large part of their deposits evaporated, is what It pushes depositors to think about carrying out intrusions, which are punishable in principle by law, and if there were other solutions, depositors would have followed them.”
The storming of the banks coincided with a specific lawsuit filed by the Beirut Bar Association a few days ago, concerning, as Judge Shabib says, “the union’s deposit in a bank after it stopped paying it, according to Law 67/2 that deals with the situation of banks when they stop paying, and it stipulates: Special measures the court can take in such a case.
The Syndicate will proceed in the same case with the rest of the banks in which it has deposits, according to what Lawyer Bazzi confirms, considering that it “constitutes a model for any depositor who wishes to file a claim to stop payment, to raise the hand of the board of directors on the bank that refrained from paying, and then its management by the court from During her appointment as a temporary manager, he sees the public interest of the depositors, and takes the appropriate decisions to protect them.
What frightens banks more than storming operations, according to Judge Shabib, is that “the Bar Association’s lawsuit reaches the first direct legal result that it entails, which is that the court decides to appoint a temporary manager for the bank within days from the date of filing the lawsuit, which means that the hand of those in charge of it will be spared, and after Therefore, the court decides to appoint a committee to manage it, in which the various parties concerned with the bank are represented, from the Ministry of Finance, the Banque du Liban, shareholders and creditors, not to liquidate the bank, declare its bankruptcy and distribute debts, but to work to correct errors in management, and try to resume the bank’s work according to all available means.
In contrast to the Syndicate’s lawsuit, which includes one bank so far, there are, according to Judge Shabib, “voices that express the position of the banks as a whole. It will be the depositors, but this falls within the framework of intimidation, nothing more.”
Since the fall of 2019, Lebanese banks have imposed strict restrictions on the withdrawal of bank deposits, especially those deposited in US dollars, in light of the depreciation of the lira by more than 90 percent against the dollar. The World Bank has classified Lebanon’s economic crisis among the worst in the world since 1850.
For its part, the Association of Banks, as Judge Shabib says, “practiced a policy of solidarity among them, to prevent exposure to the measures stipulated in Law 67/2. It also adopted a unified policy in dealing with depositors, regardless of the financial differences of each bank and the extent of its involvement in dangerous credit operations during the period.” In the past, not all banks are financially distressed or actually stopped paying, but they have followed the generalized policy.
As for the reason for the banks’ choice of this policy, he explains, “because they eventually managed to deduct a very large percentage of deposits, after persuading depositors that a large part of them evaporated, with evidence that the reserves and assets of these banks have greatly diminished, as well as the reserves of the Banque du Liban, while the deposits were their predecessors.” Banks to the Banque du Liban, which in turn is their predecessor to the Lebanese state, or the banks directly advance to the state through subscribing to treasury bonds, and therefore the state is unable to respond with a temporary deficit, as well as the Banque du Liban and banks are unable to return the deposits they owe.
He wondered, “Whoever says that what is required is the recovery of all deposits, this logic is opposite and contradicts the principle of the existence of banks, and the idea of the depositor’s relationship with the bank. He stole it, or the state did that and it will not be able to return it, in light of this general general psychological state, such a desire appears.”
For his part, Bazzi points out that “most of those who stormed the banks are partisans, that is, those who belong to the parties in power, which does not bring down the conspiracy theory, since, as everyone knows, it is not possible to agree between groups of the revolution and party groups.” From here, he addressed the Minister of Interior by saying, “Even if It failed to understand the reality, it is not allowed to exaggerate the citizens, by deluding them of the existence of a foreign conspiracy to bring down the banking sector, the one who brought down this sector is the political authority, not the depositors.”
entrance solution
After the storming operations that took place in banks last Friday, the Association of Banks in Lebanon announced the closure of its doors for a period of three days, starting today, Monday, noting in a statement that it renounces violence in all its forms, apologizing “from all depositors for any inconvenience or delay that may result from this closure, because The safety of their employees and customers comes at the top of the priorities that banks set in mind, in addition to the interests of depositors that they are trying to secure as much as possible in the current difficult circumstances that the country is going through.
The association added that the solution to the problem is not through incursions, but by “passing laws that guarantee to address the crisis as quickly as possible, through comprehensive plans that take into account all the causes and address them in an integrated manner.” Failure with the violators, and taking them to the competent courts to have a fair trial, bearing in mind that the banks will no longer delay in pursuing the aggressors until the end.”
The Minister of Interior and Municipalities commented on the decision of the Association of Banks, saying that “as long as the banks closed their doors, this indicates that depositors are the most affected by these behaviors.” claimants of their rights.
Everything that is happening in Lebanon indicates that the political authority aims, according to Bazzi, “to deliberately bankrupt the country, and the evidence of this is the strikes that the public sector has witnessed for two years, which cost the state about five thousand billion pounds in fees, royalties and taxes, at a time It was possible to run the country’s affairs with a thousand billion pounds, but it is clear that this strike aims to drown Lebanon more in projects outside the borders.”
Last Thursday, the Executive Council of the Federation of Banks Employees Syndicates in Lebanon announced that “any physical, verbal or moral attack on any employee in the banking sector is an infringement on the dignity of all bank employees,” and the council demanded, in a statement, the executive and legislative authorities “not to continue.” The procrastination and the adoption of the Capital Control Law during the current month in order to regulate the relationship between banks and their customers during this stage, which needs exceptional laws that contribute to reassuring depositors of the fate of their money.”
The Council affirmed its rejection of what was stated in the economic recovery plan approved by the caretaker government, which bore the largest portion of losses for depositors and banks, while the state is required to bear responsibility and acknowledge that it was the one who spent the depositors’ money during the past thirty years without any accountability or oversight. He called on Parliament, with all its components, to “accelerate in overcoming the national obligations of electing a president of the republic and forming a government that realistically addresses the financial collapse and ends negotiations with the International Monetary Fund by signing an agreement that takes into account the living conditions of the Lebanese and leads to the return of deposits to their owners.”
The approach to solving this crisis begins, according to Judge Shabib, “with the return of the relationship between depositors and banks to its foundations and nature, and that is through the banks’ acknowledgment of their commitment to maintaining deposits, and enabling depositors to withdraw their money, even at a minimum, and to carry out the transfers and banking operations that they need, then their desire to withdraw Their entire deposit, and this confirms that all those who stormed banks by force in recent days had a very urgent need for money due to a disease or a certain social situation, and at the same time none of them demanded to withdraw their entire deposit, but rather tried to withdraw their need only.