PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Tunisia: Police breaks up demonstration
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) – Tunisian security forces on Friday afternoon dispersed dozens of demonstrators who had gathered at Kasbah square, the seat of the government, to protest against the arrest of a leader of a pro-Islamist group accused of being “violent”, sources told PANA.
The chairman of the branch of the “League to Preserve the Revolution (LPR)” in Kram, a suburb in northern Tunis, Imed Dghij, was arrested on Wednesday evening after he threatened police who he described as “criminals”.
"We will die only after we eliminate you," he told them on a video posted on the Internet.
His supporters, who took to the streets to demand his release, denounced the "return of police of (former president) Ben Ali)," describing the Interior ministry as "Ministry of Terrorism."
The demonstrators were driven back by reinforced security forces which arrested many of them.
After the demonstrators were dispersed, Sahbi Atig, leader of the Islamist party bloc, Ennahdha, denounced the "attack" against the protesters describing it as a “breach to human rights”.
In a statement, Ennahdha demanded the opening of investigation into the circumstances of the arrest.
Imed Dghij’s arrest resulted in clashes between his supporters and the police who fired teargas and arrested 22 people.
Meanwhile, several pro-Islamist associations and Members of Parliament have denounced "the brutal manner" in which the police carried out the arrest.
The police chief of the district of Tunis, Mounir Khémiri, has, however, denied any violence against the demonstrators, justifying the intervention of the security forces by the absence of authorization from authorities as prescribed by law.
The Interior ministry said that the security forces acted "on the orders of the prosecution and in accordance with human rights".
The supporters of LPR are accused of last year's lynching of a member of the opposition party "Nida Tounès" (The Appeal of Tunisia), Lotfi Naguedh, and an attack against the headquarters of the central trades union, UGTT.
Nida Tounès leader, Ridha Belhj, said that the arrest of Imed Dghij was "a step in the right direction" describing the LPR as "very harmful for Tunisia".
-0- PANA BBB/IS/MSA/MA 28Feb2014
The chairman of the branch of the “League to Preserve the Revolution (LPR)” in Kram, a suburb in northern Tunis, Imed Dghij, was arrested on Wednesday evening after he threatened police who he described as “criminals”.
"We will die only after we eliminate you," he told them on a video posted on the Internet.
His supporters, who took to the streets to demand his release, denounced the "return of police of (former president) Ben Ali)," describing the Interior ministry as "Ministry of Terrorism."
The demonstrators were driven back by reinforced security forces which arrested many of them.
After the demonstrators were dispersed, Sahbi Atig, leader of the Islamist party bloc, Ennahdha, denounced the "attack" against the protesters describing it as a “breach to human rights”.
In a statement, Ennahdha demanded the opening of investigation into the circumstances of the arrest.
Imed Dghij’s arrest resulted in clashes between his supporters and the police who fired teargas and arrested 22 people.
Meanwhile, several pro-Islamist associations and Members of Parliament have denounced "the brutal manner" in which the police carried out the arrest.
The police chief of the district of Tunis, Mounir Khémiri, has, however, denied any violence against the demonstrators, justifying the intervention of the security forces by the absence of authorization from authorities as prescribed by law.
The Interior ministry said that the security forces acted "on the orders of the prosecution and in accordance with human rights".
The supporters of LPR are accused of last year's lynching of a member of the opposition party "Nida Tounès" (The Appeal of Tunisia), Lotfi Naguedh, and an attack against the headquarters of the central trades union, UGTT.
Nida Tounès leader, Ridha Belhj, said that the arrest of Imed Dghij was "a step in the right direction" describing the LPR as "very harmful for Tunisia".
-0- PANA BBB/IS/MSA/MA 28Feb2014
