Sunday, January 9, 2011

Thousands of lawyers across Tunisia on strike

Red Emma’s needs volunteers.  Stop in to the weekly Sunday meeting at 7 PM at 800 St. Paul St. or email info@redemmas.org.  The next meeting is Jan. 9.  There is no meeting on the first Sunday of the month.  Call 410-230-0450. If you would be interested in volunteering or becoming a collective member of 2640, send an email to 2640@redemmas.org.

 

 The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, www.chesapeakecitizens.org and others are hosting author David Swanson who will sign his book WAR IS A LIE on Mon., Jan. 10 at 7 PM at the JHU Barnes & Noble, 3300 St. Paul St., Baltimore 21218. Go to http://warisalie.org.  Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.  There will be a strategy session with David after the Barnes & Noble event.  If interested in attending, let me know.

 

 If you would like to attend a strategy session with David Swanson at my house after the book signing, let Max know.  He will provide you with directions.  Consider bringing snacks or juice to share.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110106/wl_africa_afp/tunisiapoliticsunrest_20110106192905

 

Thousands of lawyers across Tunisia on strike

Thu Jan 6, 2:28 pm ET

 

TUNIS (AFP) – Thousands of lawyers in Tunisia went on strike Thursday, a week after a police crackdown on demonstrations they staged in support of protestors against unemployment in the tightly-controlled country.

Trade unionists said strikes, protests, even attempted suicides also took place in other parts of the country.

In a related development, police arrested a rapper and two bloggers, their families and friends announced, but could not say why or where they were being detained.

 

The strikes come amid growing unrest following the death of a jobless 26-year-old university graduate who had set himself alight last month in the central town of Sidi Bouzid to protest his lack of opportunities.

"Ninety-five percent" of the country's 8,000 lawyers across the country answered the strike call issued by the national council of their order, Bar president Abderrazak Kilani told AFP.

 

"No incidents were recorded in the regions, nor in Tunis," he said. "The lawyers show that they can respond wisely and responsibly."

 

In Tunis, lawyers in robes gathered at the main courthouse on Bab Bnet Avenue, where a strong force of police stood guard but did not intervene.

 

The national council had called the strike after lawyers across the country staged actions on New Year's Eve in support of residents of Sidi Bouzid, a centre of mass protests against unemployment since December 19.

 

The council last week condemned the "unprecedented" use of force to "silence the lawyers who are determined to defend freedom of expression and the rights of Sidi Bouzid and other regions that are devoid of jobs and dignity."

Lawyers were "beaten, chased and insulted" in Tunis, Grombalia, Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia, Gafsa et Jendouba. One lawyer had his nose broken and another had an eye seriously injured, the council said.

 

Members of the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) led by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali opposed the strike.

"This has nothing to do with the Bar's defence. It is a means to gain political ends" in the context of social unrest, said pro-government lawyer Mohsen Harbi.

 

Most schools were also on strike Thursday in Sidi Bouzid but no clashes were reported in a city still in shock a day after the funeral of Bouaziz, unionist Ali Zari told AFP.

 

The student, who was reduced to selling vegetables for a living, had tried in vain to plead his cause to the local governor, who was later dismissed by Ben Ali.

 

Late Wednesday a woman and her three children threatened to take their own lives unless she was given a job and a home. Zari said the new governor met her.

 

To the south in Jbeniana, near Sfax, police broke up a students' protest. Trade unionists reported one suicide and several attempts.

 

In Regueb, also near Sfax, jobless Hamed Slimi, 26, threatened to electrocute himself on a utility pole, denouncing corruption and bias in the jobs market. He was reportedly promised a job following his threat.

 

In the mining town of Metlaoui, which was already hit by social unrest in 2008, unemployed youth Mosbah Al Jawhari set himself on fire and was rushed to a hospital in Tunis, a resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.

 

And in central-eastern Chebba, construction worker Mohamed Slimane, a university educated 52-year-old father of four, hanged himself on Tuesday, a witness said.

 

He reportedly suffered from a kidney ailment and was desperate for medical treatment and food for his family.

Rapper Hamada Ben Amor, 22, better known in Tunisia as "The General", was arrested at his parents' home in Sfax at 5:30 am (0430 GMT), his brother Hamdi told AFP.

 

He became famous after his song "President, your people is dead" made it to the Internet which is being used by thousands of youths for its possibilities to express dissent.

 

Popular bloggers Slim Amamou and El Aziz Amami were also arrested on Thursday, one of their friends, government opponent and journalist Sofiene Chourabi said.

 

The arrest of a fourth blogger, known as Hamadi Kaloutcha, was also announced on the Internet but could not immediately be confirmed.

 

The three took part in May in an anti-censorship campaign with other Internet users in which they denounced the blocking of Internet services by Tunisia's censors.

 

All arrests could not immediately be confirmed by government or independent sources. They came after cyber attacks by Internet users in support of those protesting at the unemployment.

 

Copyright © 2011 Agence France Presse

 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

 

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