A general strike began in the city of Aqrab, in the governorate of Sfax, in southern Tunisia, on Wednesday, in protest against the “violent” security intervention against demonstrators who came out on Monday, refusing to reopen a garbage dump in the area, which led to the death of Tunisian youth.
Intensified army units were deployed everywhere in the city as a protest took place, amid human rights fears that the security forces might use violence against the protesters.
On Tuesday, The Tunisian General Labor Union had called for organising a general strike today, Wednesday, in the city of Aqrab, in protest against what it described as the “security siege on the city.”
In the protest, the union called for the need to open a serious investigation into the premeditated murder of the young Abdul Razzaq Al-Ashhab and to hold the perpetrators accountable.
The Public Prosecution Office of the First Instance Court of Sfax announced the opening of a judicial investigation into the causes of death in Aqrab city.
A spokesman for the judicial authorities in Sfax, Murad Al-Turki, said in media statements that “the body of the deceased has been placed before the competent medical services, to find out the reasons behind the death.”
Several sources indicated that the victim suffocated with tear gas leading to his death, while the Ministry of Interior denied this, and claimed that it was an emergency health condition, adding that the deceased lived 6 kilometers from the place of the protests, where one of his relatives transferred him –after falling sick- to a hospital where he died.
Medical sources reported that Aqrab Hospital provided oxygen to many people who suffocated with tear gas, and activists circulated images of firing tear gas in the vicinity of the hospital.
Al-Ashhab’s sister, who works as a nurse in the hospital, said in media statements, that “the police threw tear gas at him…they killed him with gas.”
