Protests over Hardship Move to Central Tunis after Arrests

Arab World

January 18th, 6:14pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Police officers face demonstrators during clashes in Ben Arous, Tunisia, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. (AP)

Dozens of protesters gathered in central Tunis on Monday chanting "we came in the daytime" after several nights of demonstrations in cities across the country that police say have led to about 1,000 arrests. The protests, involving clashes with police, follow the 10th anniversary of a revolution that brought democracy but few material gains for most Tunisians, and anger is growing at chronic joblessness and poor state services. However, with no clear agenda, political leadership or backing from major parties, it is not clear whether the demonstrations will gain momentum or die down, as many previous rounds of protests have since 2011. A decade after its 2011 revolution, Tunisia was heading towards an economic crisis even before the global coronavirus pandemic struck last year, wrecking the tourism industry and locking down other businesses. An Interior Ministry spokesman said on Monday that police had detained 632 people on Sunday alone after what it called rioting across the country that included looting and attacks on property. Most of the detainees were aged 15-20, it said. In Tunis' central Bourguiba Avenue, a tree-lined boulevard flanked by government offices and colonial-era buildings where the biggest protests in 2011 took place, demonstrators on Monday said they wanted people arrested in recent days to be released. "They call everyone who protests against the system a thief...We have come with exposed faces by day and not by night to say we want jobs...We want dignity," said Sonia, an unemployed graduate who did not want to give her family name. Demonstrators with her chanted "no fear, no fear! The street belongs to the people!" Protesters also gathered on Monday in Manzel Bouzaine, near the interior city of Sidi Bouzid where the self-immolation of a fruit vendor in late 2010 triggered the country's revolution.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2749686/protests-over-hardship-move-central-tunis-after-arrests