Tunisian authorities have recently intensified their crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied, arresting two prominent opposition leaders and surrounding the house of another critic. Chaima Aissa, leader of the National Salvation Front, and Issam Chebbi, head of the Republican Party, were arrested by police on Wednesday. Jawher Ben Mbarek, another significant critic of the president, was also targeted as officers surrounded his house in an attempt to arrest him.
The arrests come after Saied shut down parliament, dismissed the government and moved to rule by decree in July 2021, before rewriting the constitution – moves his critics called a coup that pulled apart the democracy built after a 2011 revolution. Saied has denied a coup saying his moves were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chaos.
More than a dozen people, including politicians, judges and media figures, have been arrested during the past two weeks for voicing opposition to Saied or seeking to mobilise protests against him. Among those detained are a prominent business leader with close ties across the political spectrum, a former finance minister, another former senior Ennahdha official, two judges and a former diplomat. Lawyers said they were arrested on suspicion of assaulting state security.
Aissa has led protests against Saied and was charged under a cybercrime law after criticising the president in a radio interview. Chebbi was arrested near a shopping centre while he was out with his wife. Ben Mbarek is a prominent figure in the National Salvation Front and urged the removal of Saied through street protests.
State television has largely stopped broadcasting interviews with critics of the president. Saied has also publicly said some of those arrested were responsible for shortages of food and fuel that economists have blamed on a crisis in public finances.
The police and the interior ministry have declined to comment on the arrests, but lawyers said some of those detained were accused of conspiring against state security. The recent arrests have sparked concerns over freedom of speech in Tunisia and the country’s commitment to democracy. It remains to be seen whether the government will continue its crackdown on critics or if it will back down in the face of mounting pressure from citizens and international organisations.