Man can drop part of name denoting slave ancestry, Tunisian court rules

Case expected to open door for others wanting to drop atig' or liberated by' from their name

A court in Tunisia has allowed an 81-year-old man to remove a word from his name that marked him out as descended from slaves, in the country's first ruling of its kind, his lawyer has said.

Tunisia abolished slavery in 1846, but critics say it has not done enough to address racism against black Tunisians, who make up 10-15% of the population and are mostly descended from slaves.