Tunisia crackdowns on political opposition using arrests

A new report published by Human Rights Watch has found that Tunisia has dramatically expanded arrests on opposition figures.

As reported by AP on April 17th, the report claims that the authorities in Tunisia have made the arrests of lawyers, journalists, judges and opposition politicians.

The deputy Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch, Bassam Khawaja said that “not since the 2011 revolution have Tunisian authroities unleashed such repression. Saied’s government has returned the country to an era of political prisoners, robbing Tunisians of hard-won civil liberties.”

As of January 2025, more than 50 individuals are detained on political grounds, with 22 being held arbitrarily and 14 facing the death penalty.

The Ennahda Movement, an opposition rights group in Tunisia, recently described the remote trial of 40 individuals as a “sham”.

The trial session was held for more than 40 individuals, including six who’ve been in prison for over two years.

The defendants have all gone on hunger strike, and Ennahda has affirmed their “absolute solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike and with all political detainees.”

A number of the most high-profile opposition figures have joined the hunger strike in prison in order to protest against their incarceration.

This includes opposition leaders Abir Moussi, who is the leader of the Free Constitution Party and Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda Party.

The Tunisian government have not responded to the allegations although Saied has recently described the country as a “democracy” despite storming to a landslide victory in October 2024, winning 91% of the vote and arresting leading opposition figures in the build up.

Saied wrestled greater powers for himself during the COVID-19 pandemic, suspending parliament, rewriting the constitution and exercisinhg more control over the legal system.

The report went on the say that: “The authorities’ stranglehold on the judiciary, following repeated attacks on its independence, raises serious concerns over fair trial guarantees for those detained.”

AP, Maghrebi