Vol. 77/No. 29      AUGUST 12, 2013

Brahmi is the second opposition figure to be killed in the last six months in Tunisia. When Chokri Belaid was slain in February, the country was shut down by a nationwide strike. More than 1.5 million people across the country participated in his funeral.

Mass protests toppled the tyranny of Zine al-Abidine in Tunisia in January 2011, initiating a rise of popular mobilizations in the Middle East. The government is currently run by a coalition of three parties headed by Ennahda, an Islamist party associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

“All important cities are in an uproar,” said Hamadi Aouina in a phone interview from Paris July 29. “Tens of thousands are protesting across the country, demanding dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly elected in October 2011 and the fall of the government.” Aouina is an executive member in the Paris area of the People’s Front coalition, to which Brahmi also belonged.

After Brahmi’s funeral cops assaulted thousands of demonstrators who had joined a sit-in in front of the parliament building, initiated by assembly members who resigned in protest against the Ennahda-led government. As of July 29, 72 members had quit.

There have been increased violent assaults over the last year by ultraright Islamist groups against women, artists, journalists, bourgeois liberal figures and trade unions.

In response to the July 27 police crackdown, more than 10,000 came back the next day to break their fast after sunset, as part of observing Ramadan. After staying away most of the night, the police charged the demonstrators in the early morning hours, injuring many.  
 
 
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