The Ministry of Interior is determined to take stringent punitive measures against those — citizens and residents – who attempt to take law into their hands and assault policemen, especially policemen on duty.
This came following repeated incidents of assault on the men in uniform recently. In a statement, a local Arabic daily quoting the Interior Ministry sources said, the law stipulates that assaulting a member of the police force while carrying out duties while dispersing a gathering, controlling a demonstration, procession, or at the time of resisting arrest or obstructing an officer to do his duty, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period not exceeding 5 years and a fine not exceeding 5,000 dinars or one of these two penalties in case of an assault.
The sources added the legislation in the Penal Code promulgated by Law No. 16 of 1960 and its amendments punishes all acts of assault against a public servant while on duty, whether verbally, by gesture, or simply resistance, according to Articles (134 and 135), and making the punishment more severe if the act of assault was against a police force.
If the assault consists of insulting verbally or by gesture, then the penalty is imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine not exceeding 3,000 dinars, or one of these two penalties if there is aggression or resistance by force or violence.
The Ministry of Interior called on citizens and residents to abide by the provisions of the law and respect public order and not to fall foul with the law to escape punishment.