Tunisia: Severe economic crisis, popular outburst intensifies

The protests condemning the deteriorating conditions in Tunisia entered their third consecutive week, as hundreds of demonstrators took to the center of the capital, condemning the police repression, and demanding, in addition to social demands, the release of those arrested during clashes with the security forces two weeks ago.

AFP

The protesters, the majority of whom were young, set out from the "Human Rights Square" and reached Habib Bourguiba Street, but the deployed security forces prevented them from reaching the part of the Ministry of Interior headquarters.

One of the protesters chanted in the face of the security forces, "Open the way, release the people."

Banners were raised during the protest saying "Corrupt government" and "The police are everywhere, and justice does not exist."

Hundreds of police confronted the demonstrators, which led to skirmishes. Some protesters threw bottles at policemen, while security forces beat protesters with sticks.

Tunisia has seen protests almost daily since mid-January. Amidst sporadic clashes, police have arrested more than a thousand people during demonstrations over the past two weeks to protest financial inequality, the marginalization of poor areas and what the demonstrators describe as police brutality and practices.

"The security is oppressing us and wants the police state to return. We will not be silent," said one of the protesters, Majdi Al-Seliti, 33, on Habib Bourguiba Street.

And Amnesty International called on Thursday for an investigation into the circumstances of the death of a young protester in the center of the country last week and the wounding of another, as a result of tear gas canisters, according to their families.

The protests in the country coincide with the exacerbation of a political and health crisis caused by the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Last Tuesday, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital against the political class and the police crackdown on protesters near the fortified parliament, as the deputies approved a broad cabinet reshuffle that sheds light on the political tensions between President Qais Saeed and Parliament.

Previous protests also demanded a fairer social policy, and condemned the restrictions imposed to fight the epidemic and particularly affected the most vulnerable groups, as they caused the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs and obstructed education.

Source: AFP