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Beirut: Police ticketing legally parked cars caught on VideoPosted by finkployd in
Video    Wednesday May 20 2009 1:50 PM Street leading from Sodeco to Downtown (Element, Falafel Sahyoun, Cuba Libre, etc...) At the end of the street 200 meters from the bridge just before downtown. I was parked on a marked 'parking space'. There was no parking meter in sight on either side of the street. There was no 'police tape' indicating a no parking zone. There was no sign indicating a no parking zone. I had gone up to eat a falafel sandwhich at Falafel Sahyoun. I am a law abiding citizen who preferrs to park legally (rather than double or triple parking illegally) and walk the distance, even if it's a hot Beirut day. I parked 200 meters from Falafel Sahyoun as I couldn't find any other legal parking space closer, and surely none in front of Sahyoun (I had passed the restaurant to check for a parking space). 30 minutes and 2 sandwiches later, I headed back down to my car. There, a policeman was ticketing me. I approached him and inquired about his activities: Me: What are you doing? Police: Giving you a ticket for illegal parking. Me: Why is it illegal? The area is properly marked as a parking space and there are no 'Do Not Park' signs, ribbons, etc... Police: You are not allowed to park here. If you park here, you must leave your windows open and put the flasher on, then I won't ticket you. Notice how I ticketed all the cars parked along this road, not just you. [my side street was lined with cars legally parked in clearly outlined parking spaces, the other side of the street which lacked parking spaces had no parked cars] Me: Is that a law? There's a law that says that in clearly marked parking spaces one should open his windows and leave the flashers on in order to avoid being ticketed? Police: When I arrived and saw the parking lines on the ground I called my superiors and asked them what to do. They told me to ticket anyone who is parked without flashers and open windows. I just do what I'm told or I end up in jail. Me: What's the point of marking 'parking spaces' with lines and then fining people for parking illegally? Isn't that unethical, let alone illegal? Police: We are going to install Parking Meters soon! Me: Oh ok I get it, so until then the police make money illegally off of unsuspecting citizens. ... and the conversation goes on... until the policeman gets irritated with me and decides to escalate things and asks me for my papers... Police: Give me your papers. Me: What for? You already ticketed me and I'm not in my car. Police: Give me your papers and I'll tell you what for. Me: Oh really? Hold on a minute, let me record this conversation. Police: You are not allowed to record this, I will confiscate your camera. Me Recording: Oh, this gets better and better. I assure you am allowed to record, and you are not allowed to confiscate my camera without reasonable justification. Hold on, I'm going to call 112 (police hotline) and report this incident. Police: Go ahead, but you don't want them come here. If they do you will get in big trouble. Me Recording: I'll take my chances... The rest is on video, watch below. The incident ends with 112 sending a 'dabit' to the scene who tells me that I am right (not at fault), and that I should go to 'Tayyouneh' first floor, and file a complaint with 'Ra2ed' Hanna Laham... no retraction of the ticket though. tags: Beirut, Lebanon, police, illegal?, video, camera, photo, image, parking, citizen justice, falafel, sahyoun, lebanese, corruption?, ticket, May 2009 At the MED-IST Conference - Cairo, EgyptPosted by finkployd in
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Enjoying a Stella at Ahwet el HorreyaPosted by finkployd in
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