Basma Khalfaoui

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Basma Khalfaoui

Basma Khalfaoui (Arabic: بسمة خلفاوي; born 20 August 1970 in El Kef),[1][2] is a Tunisian lawyer, political activist and long-time advocate for the women's movement who rose to national prominence following the assassination of her husband Chokri Belaid in 2013.[3]

Early life[edit]

Basma Khalfaoui was one of six children born to a father who died when she was very young and an uneducated mother who raised the family alone with very modest means. After finishing school at the fr:Lycée de la rue du Pacha in Tunis she studied law at university. Here she became an activist in the fr:Union générale des étudiants de Tunisie and joined the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women in 1995.[2][1][4] At university she met Chokri Belaid in 1999, with whom she went to Paris for postgraduate studies. The couple married in Paris in 2002 before returning to Tunisia and beginning their careers as lawyers. She practised civil and property law.[1]

Campaign for justice[edit]

On 6 February 2013 her husband was assassinated by Salafist extremists in front of their home in Tunis.[5][6] Khalfaoui broke with tradition by walking at the head of his funeral cortège, and was criticised for doing so by the Minister of Religious Affairs, Nouredine Khadmi.[7][8] Identifying his killers, bringing them to justice, and exposing the alleged political cover-up which has protected them has been the main purpose of her work since that date.[9][10][11]

In 2017 Khalfaoui described her husband's murder as a ‘state crime’.[12] In 2018 her office was broken into and documents relating to her husband's case were damaged.[13] Later she publicly called for the dissolution of the Ennahda Party, which she accused of trafficking weapons into Tunisia.[14]

Politics[edit]

She had long disclaimed any political ambition and had refused to stand in the 2014 Tunisian parliamentary election, despite having joined in 2012 the Watad Party where her late husband had been Secretary General.[15][16] Nevertheless, on 21 April 2019 she announced her intention to stand in the forthcoming elections to the Tunisian Assembly.[17] She was placed in the top-ranking position on the electoral list of the Social Democratic Union in the Tunis 1 constituency, where she ran against Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahda Party, but was not elected.[18][19]

Family[edit]

Basma Khalfaoui has two daughters by Chokri Belaid, named Nayrouz and Nada.[1] Early in 2022 Khalfaoui announced that she had left Tunisia because of the verbal harassment and physical threats that she had been receiving.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Auffrey, Elodie (14 March 2013). "Basma Khalfaoui, Veuve en Guerre". Liberation. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Dahmani, Frida (5 March 2013). "Basma Khalfaoui, une icône tunisienne est née". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  3. ^ Levitin, Michael (3 April 2013). "Exclusive: Interview With The Widow of Tunisia's Slain Popular Leader". occupy.com. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  4. ^ Sgrena, Giuliana (2014). Rivoluzioni violate. Milan: Il Saggiatore. ISBN 9788865763629. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Four Radicals Held over Belaid's Murder". The Majalla. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Tunisia opposition figures 'shot by same gun'". Al Jazeera English. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  7. ^ Olimat, Muhamad (2013). Arab Spring and Arab Women. London: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9781317937371. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  8. ^ Hasso, Frances; Salime, Zakia (2016). Freedom Without Permission Bodies and Space in the Arab Revolutions. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822373728. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Basma Khalfaoui chez BCE". Realities.com.tn. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Basma Khalfaoui : 4 ans sans que la vérité ne soit dévoilée, c'est trop !". Business News. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Basma Khalfaoui menace de faire un sit-in avec ses deux filles devant le MI". L'Economiste Maghrébin. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Family of slain Tunisian politician demands 'truth'". The Daily Star. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Des inconnus saccagent le bureau Basma khalfaoui". mosaiquefm.net. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Basma Khalfaoui appelle à la dissolution du mouvement Ennahdha". Espacemanager.com. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  15. ^ Dahmani, Frida (20 January 2015). "Tunisie : Basma Khalfaoui, à la mémoire de Chokri Belaïd". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Conferència de Basma Khalfaoui, activista de drets humans a Tunísia i vídua de l'opositor polític assassinat Shokri Belaid". Iemed.org. Institut Europeu de la Mediterrania. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Basma Khalfaoui : Je me présenterai aux législatives". Business News. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  18. ^ M, L. "Tunisie – Besma Bélaïd concurrente de Ghannouchi à Tunis 1 à la tête de la liste de l'Union Démocratique et Sociale". tunisienumerique.com. tunisienumerique.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  19. ^ Khedir, Mabrouka (4 October 2019). "Élections législatives en Tunisie, focus sur le duel entre Rached Ghannouchi et Basma Khalfaoui". TV5 Monde. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  20. ^ "Basma Belaïd ne sera pas présente lors de la manifestation du 6 février". Business News. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
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