A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself on fire earlier this week in a protest against what he called the ‘police state’ ruling the country.
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Nizar Issaoui suffered third-degree burns after setting himself alight as onlookers screamed in the village of Haffouz, the central region of Kairouan.
Footage circulating online shows Nizar filming himself setting himself on fire as onlookers are heard screaming.
The 35-year-old was taken from a hospital in Kairouan to the specialist burns hospital in the capital Tunis, but doctors were unable to save him.
His brother, Ryad, announced that he died on Thursday, and he was buried on Friday. During his funeral, clashes broke out between protesters and the police, who fired tear gas, local media reported.
Mourners were seen protesting outside a local police station in the village following the funeral.
Ahead of the service, hundreds of mourners gathered outside his home, shouting: ‘With our blood and with our soul we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Nizar’.
Nizar’s protest was similar to that of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, who burned himself to death on December 17, 2010, sparking the Tunisian revolution. It triggered the Arab Spring uprisings, which were responsible for toppling regimes across the Middle East.
Nizar’s death sparked protests on the streets of Haffouz on Thursday evening, according to Tunisian media, as demonstrators threw stones at officers, who hurled back tear gas.
There was no immediate comment from the authorities.
In a Facebook post shortly before the incident, Nazir wrote that he had sentenced himself to ‘death by fire’.
‘I have no more energy’, he wrote. ‘Let the police state know that the sentence will be executed today.’
Tunisian media reported that he decided to protest against the police after officers accused him of ‘terrorism’ when he complained that he was unable to buy bananas for less than 10 dinars ($3.30) a kilogramme.
A video selfie circulating on social media shows Nizar shouting: ‘For a dispute with someone selling bananas at 10 dinars, I get accused of terrorism at the police station. Terrorism for a complaint about bananas.’
At the time of his death, Nizar was a free agent, after a stellar career which saw him play for a range of clubs, from the lower divisions to the top flight.
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