A Tunisian court on Monday ordered the release of prominent lawyer Ahmed Souab, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, his family said, in a move the opposition hopes will pave the way for the release of other jailed opponents.
The opposition says Tunisia has become an open-air prison © Mena Today
A Tunisian court on Monday ordered the release of prominent lawyer Ahmed Souab, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, his family said, in a move the opposition hopes will pave the way for the release of other jailed opponents.
Souab had been serving a five-year jail term following his arrest and imprisonment last year.
The court gave no reason for its decision at a hearing on Monday. Souab's lawyers and family said he had recently been suffering health problems.
"This is very good news, and we hope it will be followed by the release of all unjustly imprisoned detainees," Souab's brother Mongi told Reuters. "We are on our way to the prison waiting for his release."
Souab's arrest sparked widespread anger among political parties and civil society groups, which saw it as a dangerous escalation of a crackdown on dissent and a further entrenchment of authoritarianism in Tunisia.
Souab is a retired administrative judge and lawyer who has repeatedly said the judiciary has lost its independence under Saied.
Last year, he said the judiciary had been destroyed and that judges were under pressure "with a knife to their heads".
Authorities deemed his comments a threat to the judges, detaining him on terrorism-related charges.
Opposition and rights groups say Saied has had full control over the judiciary since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. He dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in 2022.
Most opposition leaders, along with dozens of activists and critical journalists, remain behind bars. The opposition says Tunisia has become an open-air prison. Saied denies being a dictator or interfering in the judiciary.
By Tarek Amara
Spain's Ceuta, still reeling from a rush of 72,000 migrants arriving on its shores in one week, is seeking the transfer of hundreds of unaccompanied minors still in the enclave to mainland Spain, local leaders said on Wednesday.
Libyan police said inmates staged a mass escape from a jail on Tuesday while armed clashes erupted nearby in two cities west of the capital Tripoli.
Spanish authorities should have anticipated the consequences of a court ruling that weakened a key deterrent against illegal migration and contributed to last week's mass crossings into the enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco, a senior Moroccan official said on Monday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.