A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself alight earlier this week in what he called a protest against the “police state” ruling the country, his brother said. Nizar Issaoui, 35, sustained third-degree burns from his action in the village of Haffouz in the central region of Kairouan, his brother Ryad said. He was taken from hospital in Kairouan to the specialist burns hospital in the capital, Tunis, but doctors were unable to save him, the brother said. News of Issaoui’s death prompted protests on the streets of Haffouz on Thursday evening, Tunisian media reported. In a Facebook post shortly before his fatal action, Issaoui said he had sentenced himself to “death by fire”.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 16, 2023 16:34 UTC