Tunisian police on Friday made strong arrests of demonstrators protesting against President Kais Saied and the new Constitution which will be submitted to a referendum on Monday, AFP journalists noted.
More than 300 demonstrators had gathered at the call of five small political groups, in front of the Municipal Theater on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the central artery of the capital, surrounded by a large police force.
"Dictator take your hand off the Constitution"
,
"the Tunisian people are free and the Constitution will not pass"
, shouted the demonstrators waving posters saying:
"we, Tunisian people, did not write this Constitution"
or
"populist referendum ".
"Provocation"
Quite quickly, they headed for the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, located opposite the Theater, and attempted to remove security barriers.
Police officers, truncheons and tear gas canisters in hand, blocked their way and arrested some demonstrators, AFP noted.
According to police sources, a dozen were arrested.
The president of the national union of Tunisian journalists (SNJT), Mehdi Jelassi was sprayed with tear gas in the face, and treated on the spot.
“The demonstrators had been authorized to organize their movement in front of the Municipal Theater but they purposely advanced towards the ministry because they sought provocation
,” a police official told AFP under cover of the protest. 'anonymity.
After the police charge, Hamma Hammami, the leader of the Workers' Party (radical left) and former opponent under dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, justified the protesters' anger.
"The Constitution passes or it does not pass, our struggle will continue until the fall of this new tyrant (...).
We are not afraid of prison, death or torture,”
he told reporters.
This protest against the policy of President Saied comes a few days before the referendum on a new Constitution which grants vast powers to the President.
The opposition and NGOs which had already organized several protest movements against the policy of Kais Saied and called for a boycott of this referendum, say they fear a drift towards a
"dictatorial" regime.
