Tunisian football player Nizar Issaoui, 35, has died from burns he suffered earlier this week in protest of “police injustice,” his family said on Friday.
Clashes erupted between police and angry protesters in Haffouz, the hometown of the football player. Witnesses told Reuters that police fired gas to disperse protesters who had gathered outside police headquarters.
Issaoui, a former Monastir Club player in America’s First Division and father of four, posted a video clip on Facebook saying the reason for his protest was that he was falsely accused of terrorism in Hafouz, Kairouan, central Tunisia.
His brother Ryad told reporters that the forward, who was a free agent and played in amateur leagues before his death, suffered third-degree burns and doctors were unable to save his life.
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Local media said Issaoui decided to demonstrate outside a police station after officers accused him of “terrorism” when he complained about the price of bananas.
A selfie video circulating on social media shows Issaoui yelling, “For a dispute with someone selling bananas at 10 dinars ($3.29), I get accused of terrorism at the police station. Terrorism for a complaint about bananas.”
The incident was similar to that of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor who set himself on fire in the town of Sidi Bouzid on December 17, 2010 after a policewoman confiscated a fruit cart.
Bouazizi’s death sparked protests that ended Ben Ali’s ouster and sparked revolutions in other parts of the Middle East.
Large protests from the player’s family followed, and a large number of citizens gathered in front of the police station where the accident happened.
