Hundreds of Tunisian activists protested in the capital on Friday against President Kais Saied, denouncing his rule as an "authoritarian regime" that has turned the country into an “open-air prison”.
Tunisia's President Kais Saied, Reuters/Zoubeir Souissi
Hundreds of Tunisian activists protested in the capital on Friday against President Kais Saied, denouncing his rule as an "authoritarian regime" that has turned the country into an “open-air prison”.
Under the slogan “The Republic is a large prison,” protesters marched along Habib Bourguiba Avenue. They demanded the release of jailed opposition leaders, journalists, and activists.
The protest marked the fourth anniversary of Saied’s power grab. In 2021, he dissolved the elected parliament and started ruling by decree, a move the opposition called a coup.
They chanted slogans such as “no fear, no terror ... streets belong to the people” and “The people want the fall of the regime”.
The protesters said Tunisia under Saied has descended into authoritarianism, with mass arrests and politically motivated trials silencing dissent.
"Our first aim is to battle against tyranny to restore the democracy and to demand the release of the political detainees," Monia Ibrahim, wife of imprisoned politician Abdelhamid Jelassi, told Reuters.
In 2022, Saied dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move the opposition said was aimed to cement one-man rule.
Saied said he does not interfere in the judiciary, but no one is above accountability, regardless of their name or position.
Most prominent opposition leaders are in prison, including Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahda party, and Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party.
They are among dozens of politicians, lawyers, and journalists facing lengthy prison sentences under anti-terrorism and conspiracy laws.
Others have fled the country, seeking asylum in Western countries.
In 2023, Saied said the politicians were "traitors and terrorists" and that judges who would acquit them were their accomplices.
"Prisons are crowded with Saied's opponents, activists, journalists," said Saib Souab, son of Ahmed Souab, the imprisoned lawyer Ahmed Souab who is a critical voice of Saied.
"Tunisia has turned into an open-air prison. ... Even those not behind bars live in a state of temporary freedom, constantly at risk of arrest for any reason.", he added.
By Tarek Amara
Human Rights Watch has accused an Abu Dhabi-based security company of recruiting Colombian private military contractors and deploying them to fight alongside Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) between 2024 and 2025, adding to what the rights group describes as a growing body of evidence of Emirati military support for the paramilitary group.
Farmers across Sudan say the hike in global fuel and fertilizer costs resulting from the Iran conflict will force them to cut back on planting this summer, restricting food production in a country where war has caused acute hunger.
At least nine people were killed and six others injured when a four-storey building collapsed overnight in the Moroccan city of Fez, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Rabat, local authorities said on Thursday.
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