TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian police on Friday dispersed with truncheons and water cannons hundreds of people who were trying to reach the center of Tunis to demonstrate against President Kas Saed despite the ban on gatherings ordered by the authorities, officially for limit the rapid spread of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.
A heavy police presence prevented most of the protesters from gathering on Avenue Habib-Bourguiba, the usual gathering point for demonstrations in Tunis.
Police then worked to break up, sometimes kicking back, several separate groups of protesters, one of which numbered several hundred people, witnesses said.
About 1,200 demonstrated, according to the Tunisian Minister of the Interior, who assured that the police had shown restraint.
The demonstration was organized at the call of the Islamist party Ennahda and several other opposition parties to protest against the concentration of power in the hands of President Kas Saed, who suspended the work of the Parliament of Tunis last July.
The authorities’ decision, announced on Wednesday, to reinstate a night curfew and ban gatherings for two weeks in order to fight the COVID-19 epidemic is seen by opponents as a pretext to muzzle the protest. .
This Friday coincided with the anniversary of the flight abroad, on January 14, 2011, of the late President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali following the demonstrations of the “jasmine revolution”.
President Saed decreed last year that the events that led to the fall of the dictatorial regime would henceforth be commemorated on December 17, the day of the self-immolation by fire of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, the origin of the protest that will sweep Ben Ali.
Elected in 2019, Kas Saed appeared to enjoy broad public support when he dismissed the government and suspended parliament six months ago, saying he wanted to end years of political paralysis and economic stagnation. But opposition to the head of state has grown over the months, including in the ranks of political parties and other major players in society who initially approved of his initiatives.
(Report Tarek Amara and Mohamed Argoubi, French version Jean-Stphane Brosse)