Tunisian police rally for fair trial for detained colleagues

Hundreds of Tunisian police rallied in the capital Monday to demand fair trials for colleagues accused of killing demonstrators during pro-democracy protests this year.

“The police are victims of politics and politicians,” the officers chanted outside buildings housing government headquarters and a military tribunal in Tunis.

“Ben Ali is in Saudi Arabia, but the situation remains the same,” they cried.

They were referring to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was toppled in January following mass protests after 23 years in power – the demonstrations that ignited the Arab Spring unrest that has shaken the region.

“We demand justice to do its job independently,” said Khaled Dridi, a senior official with a law enforcement union, to cheers from the crowd.

Two other police sources said the mortar killed three people and wounded nine, including a member of parliament.

Earlier on Monday a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at a military base and jail in the town of Taji, just north of the capital, killing at least 19 people and wounding 24.