Arab spring hero’s mother in court

Published on 21/07/2012 00:00

THE mother of the Tunisian man whose suicide sparked the Arab spring was given a suspended jail sentence by a Tunsian court yesterday on charges of verbal assault.

Manoubia Bouazizi was arrested last week after a scuffle with a court official in Sidi Bouzid, the town where the revolution began. Her son, Mohammed Bouazizi, set himself on fire on a street in December 2010, infuriated after a policewoman confiscated his personal property, and died the following month.

His act sparked a wave of protests that spread through Tunisia’s hinterlands to the capital, forcing veteran dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee a month later.

“My mother is now free … but we face oppression … the same injustice and practices under Ben Ali still exist,” Mr Bouazizi’s brother, Salem, said.

The families of those killed in the Tunisian revolution have complained the government has done little to compensate them.

Manoubia Bouazizi had been in court dealing with an administrative matter when the scuffle broke out. She was given a four month sentence, suspended for 12 months.