like your face or your family or something . You can stay months , years , without a trial .
We were talking about the revolution and how things had and hadn ’ t changed since then . What do you mean ?
The State has settled in more , they are giving a lot of money to the ministry of internal affairs , they know how to deal with protests better , both on the side of [ preventive ] control and the response on the streets . Politically they play it by giving out some crumbs , like giving a few hundred dinar [ Tunisian currency , 0.35 euro is 1 dinar ] to 300 families after a protest . But for sure more cops , more military . They actually even just got a salary increase .
What was the spark of the last days of revolt ?
Over the last seven years , around the date of the anniversary , there are always riots . It ’ s like a routine . The people scare the government , the government gives some crumbs .
What was different this year then ?
In the city that I live in the people that were in revolt in the last week were all kids . A new generation . All neighbourhood kids . No older people , no students . You know , brothers , cousins , neighbours that decide to go and do something . Some of them with freedom in their heart , but others because they don ’ t want to go to class . But it ’ s really young kids , like 13 , 14 , 15 mostly . Some older ones too , but mostly minors . During the revolution they might have been 8 or something , probably they have someone in their family that took part in the revolution . But now , they have taken these last revolts into their own hands .
What happened over the last days ?
Well , some pretty hard demos . It would maybe start from the fact a group of kids would go to protest in front of the governor ’ s office , but he wouldn ’ t give them time or listen , and so from there they would block main intersections and when the police arrived , they would build barricades , set tires on fire , and fight with the police using stones mostly . This would continue until the cops would suffocate them with tear gas . The kids were wild though . But they were heavy with the tear gas , seriously wounding people , almost killing them . Like shooting 25- 30 canisters a minute . Bastard cops ! This happened for 4 or 5 days . In other cities like the capital it was different , there were more demos organized by leftist groups . But here in the inland of the country , this is what happened . Here there are no groups that people can find and organize together with .
The revolutionaries from 2011 are not there ?
People from the revolution are not on the streets , the kids are the ones risking . There is little exchange between generations . Perhaps these older people are working or have just come out of prison , they might be close to the kids with some words or some practical things , but they are not present in those moments . They are calculating , what they would loose , afraid of going back to shit .
But those who gave their blood during the revolution , got prison or fuck all , or jumped the boat to Europe . Most of those who are now benefiting from the revolution were not on the streets then . The government does not give anything to those who are actually fighting , but more to the peaceful people from the neighbourhood that saw some unrest .
This happened in your city , but you were telling me that in other cities they went further …
In the town of Tela , they kicked out all the cops . There is really no police anymore . There are some military forces that are protecting a few strategic places , but there the soldiers do not really act against the citizens , so they are also seen differently by the people . Also in the revolution this town was , and for the two following years , without police . It is quite an exceptional situation for this country because elsewhere the most of the people think that without the police people would start stealing each other ’ s scooters or something , but there they don ’ t have this fear . People there feel better ... more free , more dignified without the police . This is a town of miners , they are poor , but have this will to self manage their territory .
How is it in the other parts of Tunisia ?
Well on the first days it was spread a bit everywhere , then in some places it died down , but in others you still see that people are angry . But they came heavy with repression , they know how to do it now . For instance in my city they arrested 30 kids , and they gave 15 of them an immediate sentence , which was really high , like two years . This had never happened before , a prison sentence for people rioting during the anniversary protests . Then to some families they gave some money , and this is how they calm the hearts and spread fear .
What is your impression of why people are fighting ? Are there those that want to fight for more than just for crumbs ?
It ’ s a strange situation . The courage of seven years ago has been bought and repressed . Some people are living a little better , but they also realize that when there is an uprising they get something out of it . So you get the feeling that it is all a bit calculated and that we are trapped in this game , which blinds us from a bigger picture . But people , before the revolution were dirt poor , especially in the inland of the country , so yeah , a few crumbs for people that were almost starving is actually something significant . During the revolution , everyone , men , wom-
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