Tunisia arrests more prominent critics of President Saied

Tunisian police have arrested two more prominent opponents of President Kais Saied and the head of a radio station has broadcast criticism of the president.

The detentions on Monday come amid a wave of arrests targeting politicians and other critics of the government.

Police raided the house of Noureddine Bhiri, a senior official in the biggest opposition party Ennahdha and a prominent critic of Saied, and took him away, his lawyer Samir Dilou told Reuters news agency.

Read Also : Twitter delays API changes again, this time ‘by a few more days’

“The police stormed Noureddine Bhiri’s house, assaulted his wife, and arrested him,” Dilou said.

Bhiri was held for two months last year, accused of helping armed fighters travel to Syria during the ISIL (ISIS) offensive, charges he and Ennahdha denied.

Ennahda condemned the “kidnapping of Saied’s opponents”, saying in a statement “the expansion of the coup authority in harassing opposition figures, journalists, businessmen and trade unionists is evidence of confusion and inability to face crises”.

Authorities also raided the house of Mosaique FM head Noureddine Boutar and arrested him after searching his home, his lawyer Dalila Ben Mbarek said.

Political activist and lawyer Lazhar Akremi was also arrested, lawyers and opposition activists said.

Since Saturday, police have detained numerous figures who have voiced opposition to Saied or sought to mobilise protests against him.

Read Also : LEGO Releases 7 Sets To Celebrate New ‘Friends’ Characters

They included 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.

Neither the police, interior ministry nor the prime minister’s office have publicly commented on the arrests.

Monica Marks, professor at New York University in Abu Dhabi, told Al Jazeera the number of people “kidnapped from their homes” since Saturday stood at around 20.

She said the charges had not been served, meaning the arrests were taking place outside the rule of law.

Tunisian President Kais Saied. File photo

“Saied is trying to defend these arrests and abductions saying they are part of an anti-corruption crackdown,” Marks added. “But the people who have been arrested are in fact critics of Saied or peaceful pro-democracy people who have nothing to do with corruption or criminal activity.”

In July 2021, Saied shut down parliament, dismissed the government and moved to rule decree before rewriting the constitution, moves his critics called a coup that pulled apart the democracy built after a 2011 revolution.

Read Also : The best laptops for college students

Saied has denied a coup, saying his moves were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chaos. State television has largely stopped broadcasting interviews with critics of the president.

About Jones Frank

Check Also

Why Prothallus Is Not Found In Certain Species

PPT Ferns, fern allies, and fungi PowerPoint Presentation, free from www.slideserve.com Contents1 Why Prothallus is …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *