TUNIS: The mother of Mohamed Bouazizi, the street vendor whose self-immolation sparked a mass uprising in Tunisia that touched off the Arab Spring, will be tried this week charged with insulting a judge, the justice ministry said on Monday.

“This morning the court ordered that she continue in detention,” ministry spokesman Mondher Bedhiafi said. “She will face trial during the week, at the latest by the end of the week.” Manoubia Bouazizi, 60, was arrested on Friday after an altercation with a judge in a court in the central western town of Sidi Bouzid. She could be sent to prison for a month if convicted.

She appeared before a magistrate on Monday to be charged with insulting an official while he was performing his duties.

The uprising in Tunisia was sparked in December 2010 when Bouazizi's son Mohamed, a 26-year-old who was complaining of unemployment, died after setting himself on fire.

On Friday, another son, Salem, said his mother argued with a clerk of the court, not the judge, who embarrassed her and pushed her towards the exit, at which point the two exchanged insults.—AFP