Tunisian police arrest prominent opposition figure Chaima Issa to enforce 20-year jail term

Tunisian police arrested prominent opposition figure Chaima Issa at a protest in the capital Tunis on Saturday to enforce a 20-year prison sentence, her lawyers said.

An appeals court handed jail terms of up to 45 years to opposition leaders, business leaders and lawyers on Friday on charges of conspiracy to overthrow President Kais Saied, in what critics said was a sign of increasingly authoritarian rule.

"They will arrest me shortly," Issa told Reuters moments before her arrest. "I say to the Tunisians, continue to protest and reject tyranny. We are sacrificing our freedom for you".

She described the charges as unjust and politically motivated.

MORE ARRESTS ARE EXPECTED

Police are also widely expected to arrest Najib Chebbi, the head of the opposition National Salvation Front, the main coalition challenging Saied.

He received a 12-year prison sentence and opposition figure Ayachi Hammami received a five-year sentence.

Forty people were charged in the case, one of the largest political prosecutions in Tunisia's recent history. Twenty of those charged have fled abroad and were sentenced in absentia.

The sentences ranged from five to 45 years, according to a court document seen by Reuters.

Rights groups said the ruling was an escalation of Saied's crackdown on dissent since he seized extraordinary powers in 2021. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called for the immediate annulment of the sentences.

Critics, journalists and activists have been jailed and independent NGOs suspended.