Tunisia’s powerful General Trade Union (UGTT) has called for a general strike on Wednesday in Aguereb, in the central region of Sfax, a day after a demonstrator died from inhaling tear gas fired by police to disperse protests against the reopening of a landfill site.
UGTT, which has about one million members and is a major force in Tunisian politics, called for a judicial investigation into what it described as “intentional murder of a young man” during the protests.
The trade union pronounced Wednesday a day of mourning for Abderrazek Lacheheb, 35, and demanded that the perpetrators behind his killing be held accountable, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old died in the town of Aguereb which has seen weeks of angry demonstrations over a growing waste crisis and violent confrontations over security forces reopening a landfill.
The Ministry of Interior denied that Lacheheb had been suffocated by tear gas, saying he had been admitted to hospital for a health condition unrelated to the protests.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
