In the video.. "Watermelon seller" provokes angry reactions and widespread Tunisian sympathy after his arrest

Some of the pioneers of social networking sites in Tunisia expressed their solidarity with the watermelon seller Ziad Ferchichi, after the competent authorities arrested him.

The Tunisian police had arrested a street vendor selling watermelons on his truck, after a video clip of him spread on social media platforms, as he was throwing watermelons in front of a National Guard station in the northern state of Ben Arous, in protest against what he said was blackmail from security men and attempts to force him to pay a royalty .

Masoud Fershishi, the father of the street vendor, confirmed to local newspapers that the authorities arrested his son Ziad, yesterday, Monday, for throwing his truck load in front of a security station.

Tunisian websites quoted Ziad's father as saying that his son and his wife suffer from physical disabilities, and that he supports all members of his family, and accused the police of fabricating two charges, including drunkenness in a public place.

Many of the pioneers of the communication sites expressed their solidarity with Ziad, as one of them wrote: "How can any economic plan be discussed at a national level if a citizen who takes out a loan to buy a truck and a cargo of Dala is under the threat of disruption because the agents of maintaining order are blackmailing him."

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