Officials in 10 Tunisian organizations said on Saturday that freedoms in their country are facing a severe setback and an escalation in restrictions on activists, politicians, and journalists, and the authorities’ use of the judiciary to punish their opponents under the rule of President Kais Saied.
This month, police arrested 10 people, including lawyers, activists, journalists, and officials in civil society organizations.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch described these arrests as a “smear campaign” of repression and called on the authorities to stop the violations and respect Tunisians’ right to freedom of expression, political rights, and the right to civil society.
Last week, the police stormed for the second time the headquarters of the Bar Association and arrested two lawyers, in a raid that some political forces described as an “unprecedented escalation.”
The Bar Association said that one of the lawyers was tortured during detention, which the Ministry of Interior strongly denied, as Reuters reported.
Hundreds of lawyers protested and organized a nationwide strike on Thursday, reports Yahoo! News.
During the 47th anniversary of the founding of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, 10 Tunisian organizations called for unifying ranks to confront what they called an unprecedented attack on freedoms.
Officials in organizations including the Labor Union, the Human Rights League, the Bar Association, the Syndicate of Journalists and Democratic Women, and the Forum for Economic and Social Rights said on Saturday that Tunisians will not accept the loss of freedom of expression, free political action, and the right to union work and the work of associations.
It was not possible to obtain a comment from the authorities regarding the accusations.
But Saied, who came to power after free elections in 2019 and then dissolved the elected parliament two years later and moved to rule by decree, has consistently rejected accusations that he alone monopolizes the rule of the country and says that his steps aim to end years of chaos and corruption.
But politicians, journalists and unions say press freedom faces a serious threat under Saied’s rule.
Ziad Dabbar, head of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate, said on Saturday, “We have become afraid for the gains that we thought were irreversible. In one year, we have 41 journalists referred to the judiciary. We have four journalists in prison.”
He added, “Every word now opens the doors of prisons. My message to the authorities is: ‘If it had lasted for others, it would not have happened to you.’
