Tunisia frees prominent lawyer who became vocal critic of president

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.