Uprising Enters Day 45, Police Release Detained Female Protester

Police released on Saturday from the Ashrafieh Police Station in Beirut a female protester detained a day earlier against the backdrop of a dispute with security forces.

Dana Hammoud, was released early on Saturday where dozens had gathered outside the station demanding her release.

Her parents, lawyer and a group of activists denounced that she was kept overnight arguing that she did not commit a “major offense.”

She was arrested during a confrontation with police near Beirut’s Central Bank in Hamra where a group of protesters were gathering close to a gas station complaining about a fuel shortage.

After her release, Hammoud said she had signed a pledge to respect the security forces. She said: “Rest assured that whoever touches me, I will respond. I don't have any regrets about what I have done.”

On social media, a video circulated showing Hammoud in a confrontation with an officer who pushed her to the ground and detained her as she resisted back.

The Internal Security Forces issued a statement saying that Hammoud was trying to prevent a police vehicle from leaving the area which compelled for their intervention.

On the other hand, protests against the political class continue. In the northern city of Tripoli protesters rallied near the Qadisha Electricity company and the Bahsas station, the National News Agency said.

Demonstrators also protested against an increase in the prices of goods rallying near the Spinneys supermarket headquarters in Dbayeh.

In Akkar, protesters set up tents in the Akkar plain, at the Kfarmelki junction affirming that their protests will not stop until the uprising meets its demands.

More than a month into unprecedented anti-government protests, Lebanon is facing a dual political and economic crisis.

The government stepped down on October 29, less than two weeks after the first demonstration, but the country's deeply divided political parties have failed to form a new one.