Tunisia: Police Brutality is Back  · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Protests continue in Tunisia, following the declarations of former Interior Minister Farhat Rajhi published on a Facebook page called “Skandali”in which he predicts that there would be a military coup, by loyalists of the ousted President, if the Islamist Party Al-Nahdha wins the elections on July 24. He also claimed that Rachid Ammar, Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces, went to Qatar to meet with the former President Ben Ali, and that Tunisia continues to be run by a shadow government, headed by a friend of Ben Ali, Kamel Ltaief.
A Tunisian protestor beaten by a policeman in civilian clothes, May 6, 2011. Photo by Twitpic user @worldwideyes.
Pro democracy protestors gathered twice during the last 24 hours, on Thursday afternoon and on Friday morning, in Hbib Bourguiba Avenue, to call for the overthrow of the government. On the two occasions protestors were brutally dispersed by riot police using tear gas and batons.
Winston Smith, a blogger for Nawaat writes:
…اليوم5 ماي يتواصل القمع ضدّ المواطنين العزّل عبر إعتداء فرق التدخل و البوليس السياسي …على المتظاهرين المسالمين في شارع الحبيب بورقيبة بالعاصمة التونسية…
A youtube video, published on May 5, shows a small gathering of anti-government protestors, before the intervention of security forces.
On Friday, however, tension was higher and the police intervention was more violent.
Ben Karim tweets:
Happening right now in #Tunis: Peaceful Protestors beaten and shot with tear gas downtown by the police, #Tunisian police aggression is back
Haythem El Mekki says:
Les flics quand ils arrêtent un jeune se mettent tous a le battre de manière violente en même temps”
Escaping the Police Brutality photo on Yfrog
Nawaat tweets:
Avenue Bourguiba à Tunis : violence, tabassage arrestations arbitraires
Security forces also attacked bloggers and journalists.
Fatma Arabicca, tweets:
بسام بوقرة المدون يتعرض للاختطاف من قبل البوليس والضرب المبرح ثم يرمى في الشارع آلام حادة على مستوى اليد
Leena Ben Mhenni reacts on her Facebook page:
So sorry to know that my friend blogger Sam Bouguerra was kidnapped, beaten, and thrown in the middle of no where by the police. Shame on you!
An AFP photographer, a journalist for ShemsFM radio and another one from Aljazeera were attacked, while a correspondent for Radio Express FM was threatened and verbally humiliated by the police.
Nizou tweets:
Le journaliste de ShemsFm se fait tabasser en direct, la ligne est coupée, il n'est plus joignable
Amira Yahyaoui adds:
Un photographe de l'AFP qui couvrait les manifs de l'avenue bourguiba aujourd'hui a été agressé par les force de l'ordre #tunisie
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.