President Kais Saied has been in power since 2021, according to hundreds of Tunisian activists, calling his government an “authoritarian regime” that has made the nation an “open-air prison.”
Four years have passed since Saeed’s actions to consolidate his one-man rule in a nation known as the site of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings, and the protesters marched in Tunis’ capital on Friday.
They demanded the release of jailed opposition leaders, including Abir Moussi, the Free Constitutional Party’s leader, and Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Ennahdha, the self-declared “Muslim Democrat” party.
Difficulty of politicians, lawyers, activists, and journalists face lengthy prison sentences as a result of anti-terror and conspiracy laws. Others have emigrated and are seeking refuge in Western nations.
Saied imposed a state of emergency on July 25, 2021, ordering mass arrests and politically motivated trials to silence dissent, and dismissed his prime minister.
Although some praised his actions, critics claimed that Tunisia’s descent into authoritarianism was the result of its actions.
As well as carrying portraits of political prisoners and a cage, which the protesters claimed represented the state of political life in Tunisia, they chanted slogans like “No fear, no terror… streets belong to the people” and “The people want the fall of the regime.”
According to Monia Ibrahim, the wife of imprisoned politician Abdelhamid Jelassi, “our first goal is to fight against tyranny to restore the democracy and demand the release of the political prisoners.”
Saib Souab, the son of Ahmed Souab, the imprisoned lawyer who is a critical voice for Saied, claimed that prisons are “crowded” with his opponents, activists, and journalists.
Even those who are not behind bars remain in a state of temporary freedom, he told Reuters, “Tunisia has turned into an open-air prison.”
In another move, Saied said, “One-man rule is established,” and he also disbanded the independent Supreme Judicial Council and fired dozens of judges in 2022. No one is above accountability, no matter what their name or position, according to Sayed, who claimed he does not interfere with the court system.
Saied claimed that the politicians were “traitors and terrorists” and that their accomplices were the judges who would convict them in 2023.
Tunisia’s declaration as a republic in 1957 is also commemorated on July 25. The pro-Saied “July 25 Movement,” which pushed for a crackdown on the country’s largely unpopular political class, later adopted it as its rallying cry.
Source: Aljazeera
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