“Hijazi” stressed during a protest held in the municipality’s courtyard that the municipality is “continuing to implement the municipal council’s plan to remove all violations and encroachments,” warning that “anyone who allows himself to assault the municipality and its police, we will be ready for him.”
“Hijazi” received a series of calls denouncing and expressing solidarity, against the backdrop of the attack on a Sidon municipal police patrol while carrying out a campaign to remove violations in the vicinity of Mirat al-Samak. He explained that the police officers removed the violating stalls on the sidewalk at the entrance, with the support of the Internal Security Forces, before returning to deploy after the mission ended. When the patrol returned to remove them again, a number of young men gathered around the officers, poured gasoline on them, threatened the police, and used abusive language.
“Hijazi” pointed out that he was monitoring the situation from a distance, and when he approached the site, his car was surrounded and intercepted by the young men, “some of whom were armed and in a hostile state,” which prompted the police chief to fire two shots in the air to disperse them.
He considered that “what happened is completely unacceptable, and it is an attack on the city of Sidon and on the municipal police who were doing their duty in implementing the city’s organization plan and removing encroachments on public property.”
He added: “We have taken the necessary legal measures and filed a claim before the police station, based on the signal of the Attorney General, after communicating with the Governor, against everyone the investigation shows to be involved in the attack.”
“Hijazi” concluded: “We urge everyone to abide by the laws and respect the municipal police and the security forces. We will not hesitate to sue anyone who assaults the municipality or its police. What happened will not deter us from continuing to remove violations.”
The courtyard of the Sidon municipality witnessed a solidarity stand in which “Hijazi”, members of the municipal council, the president’s advisor, the police chief, and many officers participated, in addition to figures and activists. During the stand, “Hijazi” reiterated that “the municipal council’s decision is clear to remove all encroachments, and whoever attacks the police or the municipality, we will be ready for him.”
