Today, Friday, Tunisian security forces dispersed demonstrations in the center of the capital, Tunis, to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the revolution that toppled the late President Ben Ali on January 14, 2011, and arrested a number of demonstrators.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Tunisia said that the security forces fired tear gas and used water cannons on Mohammed V Street, in an attempt to prevent demonstrators from reaching Habib Bourguiba Street and joining the protesters in January 14 Square.
The “Citizens Against the Coup” campaign said that the security forces carried out a campaign of arrests against demonstrators without any respect for human rights, as it described it. It also reported the arrest of the former dean of lawyers, Abdul Razzaq Al-Kilani, and the lawyer, Nawal Al-Toumi, and “assaulting them.” She added that demonstrators were taken to a security center in the capital.
The dispersal of the demonstrators came in light of a heavy police presence that prevented protesters from gathering in Habib Bourguiba Street, which closed the streets leading to it, a main street in the center of the capital and the center where demonstrations usually take place.
Dozens of police cars were parked in the area, and two water cannons were installed outside the Ministry of Interior building located on the same street.
Big reinforcements
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Tunisia Hafez Meribeh stated that the large security reinforcements affected the size of the attendance in the demonstrations in the center of the capital, and added that despite the security restrictions, dozens were able to reach Habib Bourguiba Street, not far from the headquarters of the Interior, and raised slogans calling for not to infringe on rights and freedoms. It calls for respect for human rights and the constitution, and declares rejection of the exceptional measures taken by the President of the Republic, Kais Saied.
Witnesses said that after dispersing hundreds of protesters who were trying to reach the center of the capital, the police tried to disperse different groups of protesters. The number of participants in one of these groups was estimated to be in the hundreds.
And the French Press Agency reported that some of the protesters managed to bypass the security forces’ checkpoints in Habib Bourguiba Street, and the security forces confronted them with tear gas and beat them, and arrested a number of them, and about 50 people approached the Interior Ministry building.
The heavy security presence weakened the participation in today’s demonstrations in Tunisia on the occasion of the anniversary of the January Revolution (French)justify the authorities
The Interior Ministry said that separate groups gathered in the vicinity of Habib Bourguiba Street in the capital, under the pretext of celebrating January 14. The ministry added in a statement that the total number of people gathered reached 2,200 people who deliberately violated a special decision to prevent demonstrations during this period in order to prevent the acceleration of the spread of the Corona virus.
And the day before yesterday, Wednesday, the governor of the capital, Kamal El-Feki, announced – in a statement – the postponement or cancellation of all demonstrations open to the participation or attendance of the public, whether in open or closed spaces, for a period of two weeks, subject to renewal, as part of the measures to combat Corona.
The Ministry of the Interior added that its security units exercised the utmost restraint, gradual use of water to disperse the demonstrators while calling on them to leave.
The ministry stated in a statement that the security services arrested 4 people in one of the capital’s neighborhoods with money and two drones, in addition to seizing sums of money with two people in another neighborhood “who intended to distribute them to perverts with the aim of rioting and sabotaging,” according to the statement of the Ministry of the Interior.
Today’s demonstrations were organized at the invitation of the “Citizens Against the Coup” initiative, Ennahda, the Democratic and Republican Current, and workers, in order to revive the January 14 revolution, and to express rejection of the exceptional measures taken by President Saied, on July 25, that dissolved the government, dismissal of its president and freezing the work Parliament and the lifting of the immunity of its members, as well as other measures.
Commenting on the security dispersal of today’s demonstrations in the center of the capital, a member of the Executive Office of the “Citizens Against the Coup” initiative said that what is happening today is a return to the police state.
A member of the Executive Office of the “Citizens Against the Coup” initiative said that what is happening today is “a return to the police state.”
The agency quoted Samira Chaouachi, the suspended deputy speaker of Parliament, as saying that she was surprised that the protesters were prevented from reaching Habib Bourguiba Street, adding that “all political and civil forces collided with a large security presence, and this can only be seen in countries with dictatorial and tyrannical regimes.”
Labor march
On the other hand, a march organized by workers started from Al-Basaj Square in the center of the capital towards the Central Bank and roamed the neighboring streets. The protesters raised slogans, most notably, “Enough lying to the people. There is no place for the oath in the cases of workers. We refuse to sell the country and become dependent on the outside.”
The Secretary-General of the Workers’ Party, Hamma Hammami, in a statement to Anadolu Agency, criticized the security forces’ suppression of marches marking the anniversary of the revolution, and said, “Neither Qais Saeed, as the president of the country or anyone else, has the right to prevent us from commemorating this memory of its historical symbolism.”
In addition to the capital, pictures showed a demonstration that took place in the city of Tataouine in the south of the country, where slogans were raised calling for adhering to the project of the revolution and its completion, as well as banners regarding current developments, especially the exceptional decisions of the president since last July 25.
Al-Nahda had said that the abolition of Parliament opened the way for Saeed to complete the stages of concentrating a dictatorial regime that disrupts democracy in the country. The movement renewed its demand for the release of its leader and former minister, Noureddine El-Behairy, and said that he was on a hunger strike “in rejection of his kidnapping and forcible detention.”
labor union
On the other hand, the official spokesman of the General Labor Union, Sami Al-Tahri, said that history cannot be erased with the stroke of a pen, referring to the cancellation of Saeed on January 14, the date of commemorating the anniversary of the revolution by virtue of a presidential decree, and his replacement on December 17, which is the date The outbreak of protests from Sidi Bouzid 11 years ago.
Al-Tahri added – in a post he posted on his official Facebook page – that “January 14th belongs to the Tunisians, it cannot be erased and it can be restored.”
Since last July 25, the country has been witnessing a political crisis against the backdrop of exceptional measures, most notably the freezing of Parliament’s competencies, the lifting of the immunity of its deputies, the abolition of the constitutionality monitoring body, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, the dismissal of the prime minister and the appointment of new ones.
Most political and civil forces reject these measures, and consider them a coup against the constitution. On the other hand, it is supported by other forces that see it as a correction of the course of the 2011 revolution that overthrew the rule of the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011).
