Tunis - Nabil Zaghdod
The brother of Mohammed Bouazizi, the man widely regarded as the initiator of the Tunisian Revolution, has told Arabstoday that the Bedaya Court in Sidi Bouzid is holding his mother in custody, after she was accused of assault on a member of staff in court. Salem Bouazizi explained that she was detained when she refused to close the door of a judge in the Bedaya court after he had asked her to. Salem said: "my mother answered back so they charged her with assaulting a civil servant while performing his duties.” Salem Bouazizi then threatened to burn the court, regardless of who ever was inside, unless his mother was released. He said: “These are the enemies of the revolution and the friends of the former regime. They want to distort the image of my mother and that of my martyred brother Mohammed Bouazizi, who initiated the Tunisian revolution that overthrew Zine El Abidine ben Ali." The Attorney General in Sidi Bouzid Governorate said that Menoubeya Bouazizi "went to the court in search of an order and assaulted one of the staff without any apparent reason, verbally abused him and also used inappropriate words.” In a radio statement the Attorney General said that a court order has been issued to charge her, once an investigation was completed. Mohammed Bouazizi died after setting himself on fire at the start of a popular revolution that ended with the ousting of Zine El Abidine ben Ali's regime on January 14, 2011. His family are facing several charges for using his name and trading with it.