Chokri Belaïd ( ar, شكري بلعيد, Shukrī Bil‘īd; 26 November 1964 – 6 February 2013), also transliterated as Shokri Belaïd, was a
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
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n politician and lawyer who was an opposition leader with the left-secular
Democratic Patriots' Movement
The Democratic Patriots' Unified Party ( ar, حزب الوطنيين الديمقراطيين الموحد), formerly the Democratic Patriots' Movement, is a communist party in Tunisia. Established in 1981, the movement was only legalised in 2011 a ...
.
Belaïd was a vocal critic of the
Ben Ali regime prior to the
2011 Tunisian revolution and of the then Islamist-led
Tunisian government
The politics of Tunisia takes place within the framework of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic, with a President serving as head of state, Prime Minister as head of government, a unicameral legislature and a court syst ...
.
[ On 6 February 2013, he was fatally shot outside his house in El Menzah, close to the Tunisian capital, ]Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
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.[ As a result of his assassination, Tunisian Prime Minister ]Hamadi Jebali
Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
announced his plan to dissolve the existing national government and to form a temporary "national unity" government.[
]
Early and personal life
Belaïd was born in the town of Djebel Jelloud in Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
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on 26 November 1964. He was a student activist in the 1980s. He worked as a lawyer and was also part of the defence team of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
during his trial for crimes against humanity.[ He spoke out against a 2008 clampdown on miners, and was a noted political critic of ]Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
, the strongman Tunisian leader in office for 23 years, whose 2011 self-exile to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
was the first tangible result of the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
uprisings.[ Belaid was also a poet, and one of his poems is dedicated to Lebanese intellectual Husayn Muruwwa, who was assassinated by Islamists in the late 1980s.][
Belaid was married and had two daughters.][ The family lived in a rented apartment.][
]
Politics
Belaïd was the coordinator of the far-left Democratic Patriots' Movement
The Democratic Patriots' Unified Party ( ar, حزب الوطنيين الديمقراطيين الموحد), formerly the Democratic Patriots' Movement, is a communist party in Tunisia. Established in 1981, the movement was only legalised in 2011 a ...
, which was part of a 12-member umbrella organisation called the Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalition ...
.[ He identified with pan-Arabism and was active opponent of normalizing relations with ]Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.[Chokri Belaid, 1964–2013: Fierce opponent of Tunisia's Islamists](_blank)
''Ahram Online
''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...
''. Originally published by '' Agence France-Presse''. 2013-02-06. and was a strong critic of the supporters of fundamentalist Islam, sometimes referred to as Salafists
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
, whose confrontational tactics since the change of government in 2011 have prevented some plays and music concerts from being held in Tunisian cities. The Salafists also have been blamed for attacking the US Embassy in Tunisia in 2012.
Belaid was succeeded by Ziad Lakhdhar as secretary general of the party.
Assassination
On 6 February 2013, as Belaïd was leaving his house in the neighborhood of El Menzah 6, Tunis, he was shot by Kamel Gaghgadhi, who later fled with an accomplice on a motorbike, four times in the head and chest.[ He was rushed into the Ennasr clinic, and died there.] According to Tunis Afrique Presse
Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) ( ar, وكالة تونس إفريقيا للأنباء) is a Tunisian press agency.
History and profile
The agency, based in Tunis, was founded on 1 January 1961. With a corps of 300 agents, including photographers, r ...
, Belaïd died in hospital. Belaid had reportedly received multiple death threats in the days prior to his death. The night before he was killed, Belaid said; "All those who oppose Ennahda
The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia.
Fou ...
become the targets of violence." Earlier that week, Belaïd said that the committees established out of the revolution were a "tool" used by the Islamists.[
Following news of his death, police used ]tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
to disperse thousands of people demonstrating in front of the Interior ministry in Tunis.[ Other protests spontaneously occurred in cities throughout the country, including Mezzouna, ]Gafsa
Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...
and Sidi Bouzid
Sidi Bouzid ( ar, سيدي بوزيد '), sometimes called ''Sidi Bou Zid'' or ''Sīdī Bū Zayd'', is a city in Tunisia and is the capital of Sidi Bouzid Governorate in the centre of the country. Following the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi in ...
, where tear gas was also used to disperse protesters.[ The interim ]President of Tunisia
The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Tunisian Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية التونسية), is the head of state of Tunisia. Tunisia is a presidential republic, whereby the president is the head of state a ...
Moncef Marzouki
Mohamed Moncef Marzouki ( ar, محمد المنصف المرزوقي; ''Muhammad al-Munṣif al-Marzūqī'', born 7 July 1945) is a Tunisian politician who served as the fifth president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014. Through his career he has been ...
cut short an overseas trip to Cairo as a result of the protests and assassination.[
]
Perpetrators
On 26 February, four radical Islamists were detained due to their alleged connections to the assassination of Belaid. The suspect in the murder was identified as Boubacar Hakim, a hardline Salafist.
On 2 October, Chokri Belaid defence committee spokesman Tayeb Oqaili claimed that, according to official documents, Abdulhakim Belhadj was involved in the killings of both Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, pointing to links between the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Ansar al Sharia and the Ennahda Movement
The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia.
Foun ...
. The left-wing leader maintained that Belhadj apparently intended to carry out terrorist attacks in Tunisia, and trained the Ansar al-Sharia cell that killed the opposition politicians, all under close observation by Ennahda leaders Rashid al-Ghannushi
Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intellec ...
, Hamadi Jebali
Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
and Samir Dilou, among others.
Reactions
Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali
Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...
called the killing "a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution." In a televised address, Jebali announced the formation of a caretaker government composed of technocrats, which would rule the country until a new election is held.[ The Islamist political party ]Ennahda
The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia.
Fou ...
issued a statement calling the attack a "heinous crime" that targeted the "security and stability of Tunisia".[ The premises of Ennahda in the central town of Mezzouna and in the north-eastern town of ]El Kef
El Kef ( ar, الكاف '), also known as ''Le Kef'', is a city in northwestern Tunisia. It serves as the capital of the Kef Governorate.
El Kef is situated to the west of Tunis and some east of the border between Algeria and Tunisia. It has a ...
were torched by demonstrators and the party's office in Gafsa
Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...
was ransacked. Four opposition parties, Belaid's own Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalition ...
bloc, Nidaa Tounes
Nidaa Tounes ( ar, حركة نداء تونس ', french: Appel de la Tunisie; usually translated as "Call of Tunisia", "Call for Tunisia", or "Tunisia's Call") is a big tent secularist political party in Tunisia. After being founded in 2012 ...
, the Al Massar party, and the Republican Party, announced that they were pulling out of the national assembly and called for a general strike.[
International reactions included:
* – The ruling Muslim Brotherhood said that assassinations were a crime and must be stopped; while the National Salvation Front expressed its fear of similar political assassinations happening in Egypt.
* – Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle expressed his "horror" and "sadness."][
* – President François Hollande stated that "this murder robs Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices".][
* – The Foreign Office released a statement condemning the killing and calling it a "cowardly and barbaric act aimed at destabilising Tunisia's democratic transition."][
* – The spokesperson for the State Department, ]Victoria Nuland
Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat currently serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Nuland, a former member of the foreign service, served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eur ...
, condemned the killing and called it an "outrageous and cowardly act." She also called for a "fair, transparent and professional investigation to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice consistent with Tunisian law and international norms".[
The assassination of Chokri Belaid prompted responses from the Tunisian intellectual community.
]
Funeral
Belaid's funeral service was held in Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
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on 8 February. It was attended by at least a million people amid clashes between police and protesters His body was buried at Jellaz cemetery.[ The following day en Nahda called for its supporters to gather in Tunis.
]
See also
* Mohamed Brahmi
* Nahed Hattar
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belaid, Chokri
1964 births
2013 deaths
African democratic socialists
Arab socialists
Assassinated Tunisian politicians
Critics of Islamism
Deaths by firearm in Tunisia
People from Jendouba Governorate
People murdered in Tunisia
Popular Front (Tunisia) politicians
Tunisian Arab nationalists
20th-century Tunisian lawyers
Tunisian secularists
Tunisian socialists
2013 murders in Tunisia
21st-century Tunisian lawyers