Collective Action

Lebanese Army troops forcibly prevented relatives of the victims of the August 4, 2020 port blast from gathering for a protest outside the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) on Friday, where President Michel Aoun was attending an Easter Good Friday service, according to one of the protest leaders, who said the troops also assaulted some of the demonstrators.

The demonstrations were originally organized to protest the cabinet’s decision to demolish the grain silos at the Port of Beirut, as well as the delay in the judicial appointments which are stalling the blast investigation. William Noun, one of the organizers of the protest, told L’Orient Today that the army had stopped them a kilometer-and-a-half before they reached Kaslik, and insisted on detaining the group until the Easter Good Friday service attended by Aoun and other politicians had come to an end. Noun added that when the protest group, which numbered about 35 people, tried to leave after the service at USEK had ended, the army troops said there was an arrest warrant out for one of the demonstrators and detained them further, sparking an altercation. A video circulated on social media of the incident showed soldiers arguing with the relatives of the port explosion victims. Noun said he and others were pistol-whipped and forced into an army truck before they were released at the intervention of their lawyer.