One More Protest Against Police Repression after Violence in Sidi Hassine

Demonstrators gather on Habib Bourguiba avenue in downtown Tunis on the evening of June 18 to protest police repression. Photo by Dominic Ronzo.

Protesters gathered in downtown Tunis for a demonstration against police repression following two incidents involving police brutality, one of them deadly, which occurred last week in the working class neighborhood of Sidi Hassine. The protest, specifically a march, had been announced by several civil society groups. The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) appeared to take the lead, hosting a press conference on June 15 to announce it as well as a lawsuit brought by 67 civil society groups against Prime Minister and acting Interior Minister Hichem Mechichi.

Friday’s protest gathered a group of less than 200 people, many of them young, who began marching toward the Ministry of Interior at 17:00 from the Ibn Khaldun statue at the opposite end of Habib Bourguiba avenue.

Demonstrators gather on Habib Bourguiba avenue in downtown Tunis on the evening of June 18 to protest police repression. Photo by Dominic Ronzo.

“The firing of Mechichi is a must [wajib],” “The fall of the regime is a must,” and “Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Terror,” were some of the chants protesters chanted during the protest.

Demonstrators gather on Habib Bourguiba avenue in downtown Tunis on the evening of June 18 to protest police repression. Photo by Dominic Ronzo.

Hamma Hammami, leader of the Workers Party and a former presidential candidate on several occasions, was present at the demonstration.

Leader of the Workers Party Hamma Hammami, joins a demonstration on Habib Bourguiba avenue in downtown Tunis on the evening of June 18 against police repression. Photo by Dominic Ronzo.

There were also signs calling for the release of two members of the General Union of Students of Tunisia (UGET) who have been arrested following repeated confrontations between some students and university staff at the Higher Institute of Social and Human Sciences of Tunis.

Demonstrators gather on Habib Bourguiba avenue in downtown Tunis on the evening of June 18 to protest police repression. Photo by Dominic Ronzo.