At the beginning of the year, Abdullah Al-Saii entered a bank in the Lebanese capital Beirut. He has a pistol and a can of petrol with him. He wants $50,000 and threatens to set the store on fire if he doesn’t get the money. The unusual thing about it: He demands his own money. In an interview with ntv.de, his lawyer Ayman Raab talks about what drove his client to take these drastic measures – and why more and more people feel compelled to do so.
ntv.de: You represent Abdullah Al-Saii, who stole his own money from the bank. Since then there have been six more bank robberies. Did you expect so many to follow your client’s example?
Ayman Raab: We saw that coming a while ago. The banks and the entire political system are robbing us. The judiciary does not help people to their rights. So it was only a matter of time before people took the law into their own hands. They are forced to steal their own money.
What do you mean, the banks are robbing people?
In Lebanon we are ruled by an oligarchy. This includes politicians, the judiciary, the army, but also the banks. For years they invested our money in the Lebanese government because they got high returns – sometimes up to 40 percent. They knew that the ruling class used this money to enrich themselves and their families. The banks did their part by convincing people to put their money into the system at higher-than-normal interest rates—up to 15 percent. Since 2009, everyone knew that this system would collapse. But despite this, the bank employees continued to invest our money in this way. And now there’s nothing left.
The attacks by Lebanese men and women are celebrated online. Is there anyone who criticizes these raids?
There are people who find this unfair. That is true to a certain extent. Because the total volume of bank accounts in Lebanon is around $120 billion. But right now, Lebanon only has about $3-4 billion left. So if one person gets $50,000, it’s taken away from another person.
What about the bank teller standing on the other side of the counter with a gun pointed at them? Aren’t they just as affected by the crisis?
The bankers are the ones who misinvested our money. They put all our money on one card. That’s the basics of banking: diversify your portfolio. And they didn’t do that because they were making so much money from the huge returns on government investments. We’re talking billions of dollars a year here. You can’t work as a bouncer in front of a whorehouse and say I don’t care what happens in there.
Did Abdullah take into account the risk of accidentally hurting someone?
Of course accidents can happen. But he had no choice but to take that step. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he took the risk of going to jail and maybe even the risk of accidentally hurting someone.
If he’s in prison, what’s the use of the money?
He didn’t take the money for himself, but for his family. He’s worked for 20 years to save that money and now the bank is refusing to give him his money. Even if he worked another 20 years, he would never be able to earn that much money again. He had no choice but to steal his own money and give it to his family – even if it means going to jail.
Isn’t everyone in Lebanon in the same situation as Abdullah Al-Saii? Nevertheless, not everyone takes this drastic measure.
Desperation does that to a person. In Lebanon everyone is desperate. But the people who go into the banks are in dire straits. No one would risk their life for $10,000 if they could get by without it. But believe me, if my child or my mother were ill, I would also take these drastic measures.
How did you hear about this case – were you involved before the robbery?
No, we had no idea anyone was planning these robberies. When Abdullah was arrested I received a call because I belong to the Pro Bono Lawyers Association for Defending Protesters. We started defending protesters during the revolution in 2019 and for me these robberies are part of the revolution. Even if they don’t protest in the streets, it’s still a kind of revolutionary act.
What is your goal as a lawyer in this case?
We help people like Abdullah get their right to a trial. Because in Lebanese law there is a criminal offense called “vigilante justice”, i.e. taking the judiciary into your own hands. This is a minor crime punishable by a small fine or a maximum of two years in prison. If we leave these people alone, the oligarchy will charge them with robbery or armed assault, which they don’t do. It’s not a robbery. He didn’t take people hostage. He just took his rights into his own hands. Just as we supported the people who took to the streets to protest about freedom of expression, we support the people who are taking the law into their own hands.
Does the judiciary accept these arguments?
The Attorney General has done his best to call for armed robbery and robbery. However, thanks to the enormous efforts that we as lawyers made, he did not succeed. In all previous cases, the public prosecutor’s office abides by the law and charges the suspects with “vigilante justice”.
Is the public prosecutor trying to set an example with these cases and demanding the maximum penalty?
Knowing the judiciary system in Lebanon, it will be years before they make a decision. So it will be too late to make an example out of it.
What should follow from this now?
The solution isn’t that everyone goes to the bank and demands their money. But these bank robberies should be taken as a red flag for the ruling oligarchy. It has to get the International Monetary Fund to come out and say, “You’re facing a huge chasm, let’s talk and try to find a solution.” We have been in the worst economic crisis imaginable for three years. And nobody does anything. Hopefully that changes now.
The myth of Ayman Raab springs Clara Suchy
