Tunisians demonstrate despite a ban on the release of government critics

class=”sc-97fd9fa8-0 jNFKxv”>

“Free the prisoners,” chanted the demonstrators, mostly supporters of the opposition National Salvation Front (NSF). More than 500 protesters, some waving Tunisian flags, gathered on the main road Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis.

Government critics arrested

Several prominent critics of Saied have recently been arrested in Tunisia, including members of the opposition alliance NSF and its main member, the Islamist Ennahda party. In 2021, the president deposed the government and parliament, citing emergency laws. As a result, Saied pushed for a constitutional amendment that gave him significantly more power.

Demonstrators defy the ban on protests

The demonstrators called the president’s rise to power a “coup d’état” and opposed a ban on demonstrations by the capital’s authorities. A police officer tried to drive the demonstrators off the main road with loudspeakers: “Please, the march is forbidden.”

President Saied has accused his arrested critics of “terrorism”, which has caused the recent food shortages and conspired against the state. Human rights organization Amnesty International called the arrests a “politically motivated witch hunt”.

(AFP)

Source: Blick