الرئيسية
Thousands of Tunisians rallied on Saturday to commemorate a young
fruitseller's desperate gesture a year ago which unleashed the
pioneering revolution of the Arab Spring.
Newly-elected President
Moncef Marzouki joined the crowds in the town of Sidi Bouzid, where
Mohamed Bouazizi's altercation with a policewoman and his subsequent
self-immolation set off a wave of protests that toppled long-standing
dictators and dramatically changed the Arab world.
"Thank you to
this land, which has been marginalised for centuries, for bringing
dignity to the entire Tunisian people," said Marzouki, who was sworn in
as president this week after the country's first post-revolution
election.
"Our role is to bring back the joy of living which had been stolen by despots," Marzouki said.
Bouazizi,
an unemployed graduate, set himself on fire on December 17 last year
after a row with a policewoman, to protest abuses under the 23-year
regime of president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali -- sparking a revolt that
ousted the strongman less than a month later.
The fruitseller
committed his desperate act in Sidi Bouzid, part of the neglected
Tunisian interior long overlooked for investment by the former regime in
the north African country, which held its first free elections in
October.
From daybreak Saturday, Tunisians swarmed into Sidi
Bouzid, where the streets were decked with Tunisian flags, pictures of
"victims of the revolution" and a giant photograph of Bouazizi.
"I
look around me and see many young people in the crowd who braved the
bullets of Ben Ali's police last year to defend the values of freedom
and dignity," human rights activist Sabrine Ammari told AFP.
fruitseller's desperate gesture a year ago which unleashed the
pioneering revolution of the Arab Spring.
Newly-elected President
Moncef Marzouki joined the crowds in the town of Sidi Bouzid, where
Mohamed Bouazizi's altercation with a policewoman and his subsequent
self-immolation set off a wave of protests that toppled long-standing
dictators and dramatically changed the Arab world.
"Thank you to
this land, which has been marginalised for centuries, for bringing
dignity to the entire Tunisian people," said Marzouki, who was sworn in
as president this week after the country's first post-revolution
election.
"Our role is to bring back the joy of living which had been stolen by despots," Marzouki said.
Bouazizi,
an unemployed graduate, set himself on fire on December 17 last year
after a row with a policewoman, to protest abuses under the 23-year
regime of president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali -- sparking a revolt that
ousted the strongman less than a month later.
The fruitseller
committed his desperate act in Sidi Bouzid, part of the neglected
Tunisian interior long overlooked for investment by the former regime in
the north African country, which held its first free elections in
October.
From daybreak Saturday, Tunisians swarmed into Sidi
Bouzid, where the streets were decked with Tunisian flags, pictures of
"victims of the revolution" and a giant photograph of Bouazizi.
"I
look around me and see many young people in the crowd who braved the
bullets of Ben Ali's police last year to defend the values of freedom
and dignity," human rights activist Sabrine Ammari told AFP.