A few hundred people marched Wednesday from Downtown Beirut to a hospital where a protester is being treated for a severe head wound suffered three days earlier during clashes with police.
The marchers gathered at Riad al-Solh Square before heading toward the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Hamra in solidarity with Mohammad Kassir, who was hit in the head at the Sunday night protest.
They vowed to hold accountable government officials and policemen they accuse of being behind the violence.
“We are all hurt because of divisions in the country, and we want to hold accountable the people who created strife," a spokesperson from the “We Want Accountability” movement, which organized the march, said.
“We aren't hungry because we're poor. We're hungry because we have resources that have been stolen from us,” she added, reading from a statement after arriving at AUBMC.
Activists said Kassir’s skull was damaged by a tear gas canister shot by police. Videos from Sunday night showed a number of policemen firing tear gas and rubber bullets directly at protesters.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour told Al-Jadeed that Kassir's condition was "much better" Wednesday compared to previous days. Initial reports had emerged Sunday night and Monday that Kassir had died, but those turned out to be false.
"He was in a very high risk condition before, and now he is much better," Abu Faour said, refusing to give more details of the case, citing the patient's right to privacy.
Abu Faour also announced that he had asked AUBMC to receive two other wounded protesters who could not afford treatment.
Al-Jadeed had reported that Siham Sharafeddine, a woman who was allegedly hit with a live bullet during one of the weekend protests, needed to be moved because doctors at al-Sahel Hospital where she is being treated could not remove the bullet from her body.
Abu Faour also called on AUBMC to treat Ali Jabak, who was beaten so hard by security forces that his right eye fell out of its socket during a Tuesday night protest.
AUBMC initially accepted him in its emergency room but ejected him Wednesday morning because his family could not pay.
The demonstrator’s mother, Hiam Jabak, had pleaded for Abu Faour to take up her son's case.
“Would you have accepted this kind of behavior if it were your own son?” the mother said on Al-Jadeed, addressing the minister.
Abu Faour later called in to Al-Jadeed, saying he urges the family the return Ali to the hospital immediately.
The We Want Accountability campaign is a recent movement calling for holding accountable those responsible for attacks on protesters. It was inspired by the "You Stink" campaign, which is directed against the government’s handling of the garbage crisis.
You Stink soon expanded to include political demands, including parliamentary elections and the resignation of Cabinet.
You Stink, which organized the weekend rallies in Downtown Beirut that gathered thousands of people, is calling for another large rally Saturday.
By Nizar Hassan
