Statue of murdered Belaid vandalised
2013-02-18 14:53
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Tunis - A statue erected in honour of murdered Tunisian
opposition leader Chokri Belaid was found vandalised and broken into three
pieces during the night, an AFP correspondent reported on Monday.
The memorial, installed as a work of contemporary art by
Tunisian artists, was ripped off from its base and broken, and the flowers
surrounding it were trampled and scattered.
"This is a criminal act. Those who did this are
inhuman, they have exceeded all limits," said Besma Khalfaoui, the widow
of Belaid who was gunned down in broad daylight on February 6.
"It is the minister of interior who is responsible for
this," she said, referring to Ali Larayedh.
Khalfaoui said she had demanded police protection for her
family and home but so far had not obtained it.
Belaid, a leftist leader and fierce critic of Tunisia's
ruling Islamist-led government, was shot dead by a gunman as he left his home.
His murder sparked a public outcry in Tunisia, plunging the
country into its worst political crisis since the revolution two years ago that
ousted former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Belaid's backers accuse the ruling Islamist Ennahda party
for the murder, a charge which the party denies. So far there has been no
progress in the murder investigation.
