Arthur Greene
A Tunisian man has died in hospital after setting himself on fire on Saturday, just days after another man did the same to protest living conditions.
The 35-year-old arrived at the historic Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the center of the capital Tunis with a younger man, according to AFP.
He then doused himself with flammable fluid, while his companion tried to attract the attention of journalists who were present at the scene.
According to witnesses and paramedics, he then set himself alight.
The man, whose motives are still unknown, “suffered third degree burns and was rushed to hospital,” a civil defence spokesperson told the news agency.
Last week, a man who was wounded in the country’s 2011 revolution burned himself alive after the government failed to provide him with compensation, his family said.
Neji Hefiane, 26, died in a hospital on the southern outskirts of Tunis on September 4.
Both incidents are reminiscent of the death of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, who committed self-immolation in 2010 after being continually harassed and humiliated by a municipal official and her aides.
Bouazizi’s death became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution, a 28-day campaign of civil resistance in 2011.
Hefiane suffered gunshot wounds to the head during the unrest. Although he was on an official list of people entitled to government aid, he received no compensation.
His father Bechir Hefiane said: “It was the injustice and marginalisation he suffered that pushed my son to kill himself. We’ve got no reply, even after my son’s death.”
While 338 died during the 2011 demonstrations – mostly at the hands of police – they led to the toppling of long-term president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Bouazizi’s death also led to the wider movement of the Arab Spring, in which pro-democracy protests in Tunisia spread to Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, amongst others.
Image source: @MayadeenEnglish
