Sidi Bouzid Riots: Day 10

After 10 consecutive days of riots and despite the state of emergency declared in several cities and towns and the siege imposed by a large presence of security forces and the army troops, the protests of the inhabitants of Sidi Bouzid region continue.
The protesters are demanding a better distribution of the benefits of the economic development, including job opportunities to reduce unemployment.
 They also condemn corruption and tyranny.
On December 26th, a women’s march took place, in the town of Mezzouna on an initiative of a local association.
Hundreds of women took part in this march to protest against the raids and searches in the houses that the town witnessed on Saturday night and to ask for the lifting of the siege and the release of the arrested demonstrators.
On Sunday night, in the city of Mezzouna, hundreds of demonstrators went out in the streets, thus defying the curfew.
They set fire to tires and erected barricades on the roads, which pushed police officers to use tear gas and to fire at the crowd using live ammunition.
Demonstrators would have thrown stones at the security forces, while shouting slogans against corruption and tyranny.
In the village ‘Al Itizaz’ clashes between protesters and the security forces occurred; but no information could be filtered because of the siege paralyzing the village.
On the other hand, the inhabitants of the delegation of Djelma staged a peaceful march monitored by the General Labor Union.
The police observed the march without intervening to prevent it. At the headquarters of the Regional Labor Union of Sebala, a group of unemployed persons organized a sit-in.
They came to join the movement of solidarity with the inhabitants of Sidi Bouzid.
Some sources confirmed that large reinforcements arrived to Sidi Bouzid, while information on a general strike in the area in the coming days is circulating.
It is worth mentioning that searching and looting operations of houses and shops are committed by the ruling party militia and police officers. Thus, the citizen Salah Ayoune, a coffee shop owner, declared that police ransacked his property.
Another citizen, Mohammed Salah Mahfoudhi, complained of being assaulted together with his daughters by police officers inside his home.
The officers also ransacked his car. According to medical sources at the hospital Houcine Bouzaiane, the corpse of a young man, Lotfi Kadri, aged 34 and from Touila, was admitted to the morgue.
Our sources confirmed that this young man put an end to his life, bringing the number of suicides since the beginning of the events to four.
Marches and sit-ins of solidarity took place in different parts of the country such as Sfax, Kairouan, Siliana, Sousse, Tunis, Gafsa, Kasserine, etc… Abroad, too, a show of solidarity with the inhabitants of Sidi Bouzid is being formed. In Paris a rally took place outside the Tunisian Embassy.