The self-immolation of a journalist in Tunisia has caused riots in the North African country. After the funeral of 32-year-old Abdel Razaq Zorgi, dozens of demonstrators set up a barricade of burning car tires in Kasserine that night and blocked the main road. The police used tear gas. In the afternoon there were clashes again.
The protests started shortly after the journalist’s funeral. The man from Kasserine, in the west of the country, had succumbed to his injuries Monday night after lighting himself in protest against high unemployment and the general deterioration of the economic situation in the region. In a video he said he wanted to start a revolution. Kasserine is located 270 kilometers from the capital Tunis.
Memory of Arab Spring
In the clashes in the night on Monday, six security forces were slightly injured, according to the Interior Ministry. Nine people were arrested. In the afternoon dozens of demonstrators took to the streets again, tear gas was used again. There were street battles outside the governorship. Information on possible injuries or arrests on Tuesday afternoon was initially not available.
A self-immolation in Tunisia had triggered the Arab Spring in late 2010. On 17 December 2010, in Sidi Bouzid, the young greengrocer Mohamed Bouazizi had desperately ignited his situation and triggered nationwide protests – also in Kasserine. The uprising drove the long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out of office in January 2011. There were similar protests in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria.
