On Sunday, April 9, hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets in the capital Tunis to demonstrate against the arrest of 20 political opponents and critics by the government led by President Kais Saied in February. Over 300 members of the opposition participated in the protests, which were organized by the country’s main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front. These were the latest in a series of opposition protests taking place for more than a year and a half since the president seized virtually all power in the country in July 2021.
The protesters demanded that the government release the 20 people who were arrested and have been kept under detention since February. Protesters were seen waving the Tunisian flag and holding up placards and posters with pictures of the detainees, raising slogans demanding their release. Among those arrested in February are opposition politicians, former ministers, businessmen, trade unionists, and the owner of a radio station. Protesters condemned the Saied-led government for the increasing attacks on basic freedoms and civil and political liberties, as well as the campaign against the opposition. They accused the president of turning Tunisia into an autocratic and repressive state.
At the time of the arrests, the government had claimed that those arrested were “terrorists” and part of a “conspiracy against state security.” The arrests were widely condemned by Tunisian and international human rights groups, who urged the government for the immediate and unconditional release of those detained. Last month, Amnesty International called on the Tunisian authorities to release the detainees, saying that they were arrested on the basis of “unfounded accusations.”
Tunisia has been in the grips of a long-running political crisis since July 2021, when President Saied arbitrarily decided to dismiss the prime minister along with his entire cabinet, suspend the parliament, and assume all executive and legislative powers in the country. In subsequent months he took additional steps to consolidate his stronghold on power, along with weakening other state institutions and machinery, especially those which could oppose him. Opposition and human rights groups have since the beginning termed the presidential actions as unconstitutional and illegal, amounting to a ‘presidential coup’. Many among those who may have supported these actions in the beginning are also now part of the growing opposition nationwide.
