Army deployed and more than 500 people arrested in demonstrations against price and tax rises that started at weekend

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Human rights campaigners and activists have accused Tunisian authorities of an indiscriminate crackdown “of inexplicable violence” as the country braces itself for a weekend of massive protests.

More than 500 protesters have now been arrested and the army deployed in several cities after days of anti-government demonstrations.

Some protests have turned violent, with dozens of police officers injured. One demonstrator has died.

Tunisia anti-austerity protests: share your thoughts and reaction Read more

In Thala, near the Algerian border, troops were sent in after protesters burned down a national security building on Wednesday night, forcing police to retreat from the town, witnesses said.

The unrest began at the weekend after a small gathering of civil society and opposition activists in Tunis, the capital, was broken up by police. Almost all the country, including in the tourist resort of Sousse, has been affected since.

Activist leaders have accused authorities of targeting people who are not breaking the law.

“The police are arresting protesters in every region,” said Heythem Guesmi, of the Manich Msamah organisation. “They’re not even interested in the looters and the anarchists. They’re seeking our protesters and accusing them of things that just don’t make sense.”

Timeline Key events in Tunisia since the 2011 revolt Show Hide President flees Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali quits on 14 January, after weeks of demonstrations. The Islamist group Ennahda is legalised in March, and in October it wins 89 of the 217 seats in a constituent assembly in Tunisia's first free election. The assembly elects the former opposition leader Moncef Marzouki as president in December. Attacks, unrest In June and August, violent demonstrations erupt, while Islamists start staging attacks. In September, four attackers are killed in clashes at the US embassy as hundreds protest over an anti-Islam film. In late November, riots break out in Siliana, south-west of Tunis, in which 300 are injured. Opposition leaders killed In February, the prominent anti-Islamist opposition leader Chokri Belaid is assassinated in Tunis, sparking deadly protests and a political crisis. In July, the leftist opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi is also shot dead. Jihadists claim both killings. First free presidential poll In January, politicians adopt a new constitution after two years of turmoil that exposed a deep rift between Ennahda and the secular opposition. In October, the secular Nidaa Tounes party led by Beji Caid Essebsi comes top in the parliamentary polls. Two months later, Essebsi defeats Marzouki in Tunisia's first free presidential election. Carnage The country suffers three attacks claimed by Islamic State: in March, 21 tourists and a policeman are killed as gunmen assail the Bardo Museum in Tunis; in June, attackers kill 38 foreign tourists, 30 from Britain, in a coastal resort town south of Tunis; in November, a suicide bomber kills 12 presidential guards in the capital. New protests In January, protests against poverty and unemployment erupt throughout the country. It is the worst social unrest since the 2011 revolution. In March, at least 35 jihadists, 11 members of the security forces and seven civilians are killed during an assault on security installations in the town of Ben Guerdane. In August, Youssef Chahed of Nidaa Tounes forms a national unity government including ministers from Ennahda and independents. 'Decisive measures' In December the IMF calls on Tunis to take "urgent action" and "decisive measures" to reduce its deficit, after giving the country a $2.9bn loan the previous year. AFP

Ahmed Sassi, a well-known activist, was arrested at his home in Tunis with about 10 associates on Wednesday evening. Ayoub Ghedamsi, a lawyer and human rights campaigner, accused the government of arresting activists who had not committed any crime.

“These are well-educated, well-behaved people, not hooligans or lawbreakers in any way,” Ghedamsi said.

Who is protesting in Tunisia and why? Read more

The immediate causes of the unrest are government-imposed price and tax rises, which will raise the cost of basic goods. The government says the moves are essential to cut a ballooning deficit and satisfy international lenders.

Telephone calls, data, coffee, tea, cooking gas and cars are among hundreds of items that will become more expensive.

Longer-term factors include high levels of poverty, deep inequality and youth unemployment, particularly among graduates. Many of those who have taken to the streets are students.

While Tunisia is widely seen as the only democratic success story among Arab spring states, it has had nine governments since the overthrow of the authoritarian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

The revolt was was sparked by the death in 2010 of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street seller who set himself on fire in a protest over unemployment and police harassment.

The ousting of Ben Ali, who ruled for 24 years, raised expectations of rapid improvement and a much fairer distribution of wealth.

Instead, few of the deep structural problems that led to the revolt have been dealt with, and development has favoured areas and elites that had prospered under the former regime.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tunisian soldiers help an injured comrade during clashes with protesters in Tebourba, Tunisia. Photograph: EPA

“We are seven years after the revolution but have achieved none of its objectives,” said Ghedamsi.

Though sporadic protests have been growing over recent years, the anniversary of the 2011 revolt has become an occasion for more general demonstrations of discontent.

“Over the last three years, there has been an increasing number of popular protests about socioeconomic questions by people who feel excluded from the democratic transition,” said Rory McCarthy, an expert in Tunisia and Islamism at Magdalen College, Oxford University. “Basically, people are saying that demands for major change, particularly an end to corruption and a much more just economic system, haven’t been addressed.”

This year’s protests have drawn in hundreds in each town where they have taken place.

“The date of 14 January [when Ben Ali stepped down] is very symbolic,” said Meh Dia Hammami, a Tunis-based analyst. “For the first few years after 2011, there were celebrations. Now people are seeing it as an occasion to protest.”

Government officials have minimised the social and economic grievances of demonstrators while emphasising criminal offences committed during the unrest.

“Some 330 people involved in acts of sabotage and robbery were arrested on [Wednesday night],” said the interior ministry spokesman, Khelifa Chibani.

The army was deployed in several other cities on Wednesday night, including Sousse, Kebeli and Bizert, to protect government buildings, which have become a target for protesters.

Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister, Youssef Chahed, accused the opposition of fuelling dissent by calling for more protests.

Q&A Who is in power in Tunisia? Show Hide The prime minister, Youssef Chahed, is a member of the Nidaa Tounes party, and heads a broad coalition of Islamist and secular parties that came to power in 2015 after parliamentary elections in 2014. He took over from Habib Essid in August 2016 after Essid lost a confidence vote in parliament. As with the previous eight administrations elected since 2011, Chahed’s coalition has struggled to tackle growing economic problems. The president is Beji Caid Essebsi, an anti-Islamist veteran from the Nidaa Tounes party who came to power in 2014 after winning the first free presidential elections held since autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled.

Food prices in Tunisia have risen by around 8% each year since 2011, but inflation dropped to less than half that 18 months ago before spiking to a new high last autumn. There has been little increase in incomes for most people.

Chahed, who heads a coalition of secular and Islamist parties, has said 2018 will be a difficult year for Tunisia but the economy will improve rapidly once the new measures take effect.

International lenders extended a crucial $2.8bn (£2.1bn) loan to Tunisia in 2015, demanding cuts to the civil service and a broader austerity programme.

Tunisia rocked by protests over price rises Read more

Authorities now face a difficult choice between maintaining the price hikes – which would risk further protests and heavy losses at municipal elections later this year – and making concessions, which could defuse the crisis but imperil long-term financial stability.

“We’re preparing for the weekend and waiting for some kind of positive response from the government,” said Guesmi. “Right now, all they’re talking about is the violence. We just want something from them.”

Dhia Ben Letaife, a 43-year-old who recently opened an English-language teaching centre in Tunis, said people had the right to protest, but needed to do so without violence.

“We went for democracy seven years ago,” he said. “We should stick with it … As a business owner, I understand we’re in for a difficult time, probably for the next three years. That’s OK, but we need to get through them without violence.”

A more inclusive political system is the only way to avert continuing cycles of unrest, say analysts.

McCarthy says: “The protesters are not trying to topple a regime but it is about deciding what type of democracy emerges in Tunisia.”