Tunisia sacks officials after violent protests
Unrest erupted in town of Sbeitta after a sleeping man died in kiosk demolition
Cairo: Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has sacked four officials after violent protests erupted in a town where a man died while sleeping inside a kiosk demolished by local authorities, the Tunisian news agency TAP has reported.
Protesters in the town of Sbeitta in the central province of Kasserine Tuesday blocked streets and closed shops after the man’s death, according to the agency. Some stores were plundered during the unrest, it said.
Mechichi decided to sack the governor of Kasserine, the mayor of Sbeitta, the chief of regional security and the local police head, TAP added.
The kiosk was demolished as part of a municipal crackdown on illegal stores. The kiosk was closed when a municipal bulldozer removed it while the man was sleeping inside, witnesses said. He was seriously injured and died later in hospital, they added.
An investigate judge in Kasserine has ordered the head of the Sbeitta police kept in custody as part of an inquiry into the incident, TAP reported Wednesday.
Tunisia has seen a series of social unrest amid economic woes since the 2011 uprising.