Salafists Continue Month-Long Protest Against Imprisonments

18 December 2012 6:02 pm | Amira Masrour |

Tunisian Salafists protest discrimination in downtown Tunis on November 6 (Photo credit: Paul Rosenfeld)

Protesters belonging to the Salafist movement have been demonstrating for the past month in the northern town of Menzel Bourguiba against the imprisonment of their members, said Anouar Ouehiji, a self-described Salafist.

“This protest is a way of making our voices heard by the authorities and informing them of our demands,” said Ouehiji, who is president of the Faith and Combat Against Drug Addiction organization.

“We are calling on authorities to hurry up the consideration of files belonging to Salafist detainees, who were arrested because of the September 14 attack on the U.S. embassy and the Abdellia Palace attack,” he said.

Ouehiji continued, “We are also calling for the release of those who did not participate in these attacks and are detained just because they are bearded.”

According to Ouehiji, Haithem Majeri, a native of Menzel Bourguiba, is one such example and is currently being held in Mornaguia prison outside the capital Tunis under charges of setting a local government building on fire.

“Through this protest, we are trying to stop the discrimination against Salafists,” he said.

According to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, Salafist protesters gathered today in front of Menzel Bourguiba’s municipality to demand that an investigation be opened concerning the death of Mohamed Bakhti and Bechir Golli, who both died in mid-November due to a brutal hunger strike in prison.


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Comments (4)

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Mark says:

19 December 2012 at 20:34

They mean no good……they dont share they dont want progress, church and state should be seperate…..these people need watching because they are not there to do Tunisia any good….i suspect they are funded by other countries and those with the biggest mouths may not even be Tunisian in some instances

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Robin Hood says:

19 December 2012 at 15:04

I could assure you that these Salafists are one of the major reasons related to the stagnation of our Tunisian Economy and related to the present crisis that the country is facing. I understand that freedom and tolerance are some of the most important elements of democracy, therefore, these Salafists need to comprehend that they need to show tolerance vis-à-vis the majority of the Tunisians that clearly form the Tunisian modern society. If these salafists do not comprehend that then the authorities shall show them the right way of tolerance, certainly by legal means.

If the Government does not do that and stop the extremists then this would clearly show that the Government itself has hidden Agenda behind this group.

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exult49 says:

19 December 2012 at 10:47

The dead end the tunisians are facing, politically can be surmounted only by a bourguibist approach.
The only solution is the complete separation between State and faith.
Women condition is a clear evidence of the democracy and fredom of any Country.
Women in Tunisia enjoyed a parity since ’56.With the present islamist middle age vision, the risk of going back to the ’30′s is quite high. Religion, faith are private, personal values. Subjective, individual way of beeing, not valid for the whole society.

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Volker Molt says:

19 December 2012 at 09:33

Discrimination against Salafists?? Isn’t it a fact, that Salafists
make our life miserable by not tolerating the believes and lifes
of the large majority of Tunisians ?

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Salafists Continue Month-Long Protest Against Imprisonments

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