Movie protest
October 15, 2011
Tunisian police used tear gas on Friday to disperse thousands of protesters angry at the broadcast of an animated film that Islamists claim is blasphemous.
Police stopped the marchers as they headed toward the Nessma TV station, which showed the movie Persepolis earlier in the week.
A group of some 100 people went on to attack the home of Tunisian television station owner Nabil Karoui with firebombs later in the day. Karoui, who has apologized for the airing of the animation calling it a "mistake," was not at home at the time of the attack.
Demonstrations against the broadcast come ahead of an election on October 23 for a new constitutional body for the country.
Sermon precedes protests
The protests began after Friday prayers, during which an imam at the capital Tunis's al-Fatah mosque preached against the film, claiming it was "a serious attack on the religious beliefs of Muslims."
The movie, which won a jury prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, is Marjane Satrapi's adaptation of her own graphic novels, about growing up during Iran's Islamic Revolution, and contains a scene with a character representing God. Depictions of God are considered sacrilegious in Islam.
Since the largely secular regime of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown in January, there have been reports of a rise in the number of attacks against perceived symbols of secularism by hard-line conservative Muslims, known as Salafists, in the country.
Author: Richard Connor (AFP, AP)
Editor: Nicole Goebel