Tunis: Four people, including prominent businessmen, have been arrested in Tunisia on suspicion of corruption and financing a wave of protests in the North African country, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The official, on condition of anonymity, said that businessmen Chafik Jarraya, Yassine Chennoufi and Nejib Ben Ismail along with customs officer Ridha Ayari were arrested on Tuesday “under the state of emergency” in force in Tunisia since November 2015.
“They are implicated in affairs of corruption and suspected of plotting against state security through incitement and alleged financing of the protest movements in Tataouine and other regions,” he said.
A young man, Anouar Sakrafi, died of injuries suffered on Monday when he was run over by a national guard vehicle during clashes with security forces at an oil and gas plant in the southern desert region of Tataouine, the scene of long-running protests over joblessness.
Security forces fired tear gas as protesters tried to storm the El Kamour facility, radio reports said.
Several dozen people were wounded in the clashes, including around 20 security personnel. But the government said Sakrafi’s killing was accidental.
Protesters have been camped outside the El Kamour pumping plant for about a month, blocking trucks from entering, to demand a share of resources and employment in the sector.
Clashes also erupted between protesters and security forces on Monday in the city of Tataouine, where buildings on Tuesday showed evidence of having been set alight.
On Wednesday, Tataouine’s new governor, Mohamed Ali Barhoumi, resigned just weeks after being named to the position, saying in a post on Facebook that it was “for strictly personal reasons”.
He was named governor in late April after two senior officials were dismissed following a visit by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed to the troubled region.
The premier was shouted down and forced to leave a heated town hall meeting.
Corruption was widespread under longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in a 2011 uprising, and has remained endemic since.
Chahed has vowed to fight corruption since taking office last year, when the head of the national anti-graft body, Chawki Tabib, warned the problem had reached “epidemic” proportions.
The latest arrests come after Ben Ali’s nephew, Imed Trabelsi, apologised to the Tunisian people on national television last week for the rife corruption during his uncle’s regime.
— AFP
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