This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
ACTIVISTS called for Tunisians to take to the streets today in the latest series of protests sparked by government austerity measures.
The Interior Ministry said that it had arrested 778 people in several days of demonstrations.
One person has been killed and many injured.
The ministry said it expected the protests to die down, but that seemed unlikely — not least because this weekend marks seven years since the ousting of long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay urged the government today to halt its use of “excessive force” against protesters.
The army has deployed 2,100 troops across the country.
The austerity measures, which came into force on January 1, increased taxes and the price of basics such as flour, fuel and phone calls, among other items.
The government accepted a four-year loan from the International Monetary Fund last year, worth over £2 billion, but its conditions include the usual IMF prescription of cuts, attacks on workers’ rights and tax rises on the poorest.
