Tunisia: Three Saied critics arrested in police raid
Prominent Tunisian lawyer Sonia Dahmani, known for her fierce criticism of President Kais Saied, was arrested on May 11th according to Reuters. Her arrest came during a police raid on the country’s bar association building, marking the latest in a string of actions against activists, journalists, and civil society groups critical of the Saied regime.
Two IFM radio journalists, Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaiss, were also purportedly arrested during the police raid, an official told Reuters.
The interior ministry was not immediately available for comment.
The move fortified fears of an increasingly authoritarian government ahead of Tunisia’s presidential elections, with Dahmani arrested after remarking on the poor quality of life in the country in a recent TV appearance.
The comments were in reference to a May 6th speech by Saied, who alleged a foreign conspiracy to push thousands of undocumented migrants from sub-Saharan countries to Tunisia.
READ: Tunisia detains prominent migrants’ rights activist
Dahmani was called before a judge on May 8th, charged with distributing false information and disrupting public order, as reported by AP, with her request for a postponement of the investigation rejected.
Dozens of lawyers took to the streets in protest of the night of May 11th, with banners reading “our profession will not kneel” and “we will continue the struggle,” before the Tunisian Lawyers Council called for a general strike by legal professionals on May 12th.
In the wake of Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, the North African country won unprecedented press freedoms and has been considered one of the more open media environments in the Arab world.
Saied came to power by free election in 2019, later seizing additional powers by shutting down the country’s elected parliament, moving to rule by decree, and assuming authority over the judiciary.
READ: Tunisia: Political opposition gives election ultimatum
Opposition politicians, journalists, and unions say that press freedoms face serious threat under Saied, though the president has rejected such claims and the notion that he intends to become a dictator.
Reuters / AP
