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TUNIS, Jan 14, 2013 (AFP)
A group of inmates at the Mornaguia prison in Tunis set fire to their cell on Monday in protest at not being pardoned on the second anniversary of the revolution, a source at the justice ministry said.
“The detainees, disappointed at not being pardoned, set fire to two mattresses in their cell,” said the source, who was unable to give details about the number or identity of the prisoners involved.
Units from the National Guard were deployed around the prison, while firemen hurried to the scene, the official TAP news agency said.
The incident came as President Moncef Marzouki decided to pardon 312 prisoners on the second anniversary of the flight into exile of veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and to reduce the sentences of 1,300 others.
To mark the day, thousands of activists from across the political spectrum marched in separate groups down Habib Bourguiba Avenue in central Tunis, the epicentre of the mass uprising that toppled Ben Ali two years ago and touched off the Arab Spring.
There was a large police presence in the capital, amid fears in particular that hardline Salafist might use the occasion to carry out attacks, but no violence was reported except for minor scuffles between Islamist and secular activists.
