Tunisia urged to criminalise attacks on armed forces

A Tunisian security union on Tuesday called on parliament and the government to quickly introduce a bill criminalising attacks on armed forces after a security officer was burned during protests.

The Internal Security Forces (ISF), the largest security union in Tunisia, called on Parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the bill, with the president calling for zero tolerance for violators of the emergency law which has been in force in the country since November 2015.

The city of Sidi Bouzid last week saw tribal conflict and violence escalate over the killing of a young man in a stabbing. The violence resulted in the killing of a security officer after a security car was attacked by protesters with Molotov cocktails.

The officer died of his injuries last Saturday, while three other security guards were injured. Authorities have made arrests following the incident.

Union groups have announced the organisation of a protest in front of the government’s headquarters on 8 July to prevent the bill from being put to Parliament.

The law was first introduced in April 2015 but was opposed by political parties and civil society organisations for allegedly threatening public freedoms.

The law was then withdrawn until amendments were made.

Middle East Monitor

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