Two activists who were detained by plain-clothed police on Beirut’s seaside Thursday for spray-painting parking meters were released two hours later, after dozens rushed to protest outside of the Interior Ministry.
The arrests came during a protest on Beirut's seaside promenade known as the corniche, where a group of activists from the “We Want Accountability” campaign started spray painting parking meters to denounce a project to install more machines along the popular avenue.
Plain-clothed police riding a Kia forced three activists into the car. One of the protesters, Ali Hayek, managed to escape, but activists Hussam Annan and Bashar Harakeh were taken away, while Hayek's ID card remained confiscated.
Police confirmed their detention in a statement, but said its members identified themselves as security personnel. Activists said the servicemen verbally anounced they were police, but did not show any badge or ID and were not in uniform.
“Don’t pay,” “we want accountability” and “the parking meter project will not pass” were sprayed over the machines and on the pavement in red and black. Papers reading "out of order" were also pasted on the parking meters.
Dozens of protesters then moved to hold a protest outside the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh neighborhood to call for the release of the two activists, one of whom is 17 years old.
Earlier Thursday, Beirut Governor Ziad Chebib had ordered the company managing the parking meters to hault the installation of new meters and not to activate the new ones near the seaside. The vandalized machines were older meters located on nearby streets.
The corniche is known to be popular with Beirut's working class families, and is one of the major streets where citizens can park their cars for free.
