Tunisia protest marks two years since Kais Saied’s power grab

Tunis, Tunisia (AFP):

Some 300 protesters rallied in Tunis on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of President Kais Saied’s grabbing of sweeping powers and demand the release of some 20 detained popular leaders of the opposition.

The Tunisian opposition is dominated by the popular progressive Islamic movement, the Ennahda Party — whose founder Rached Ghannouchi continues to languish in prison.

“Down with the coup, freedom for all the prisoners,” the protesters chanted as they gathered in the heart of the capital braving temperatures that topped 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in response to a call by the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front.

The opposition has kept up its protests against Saied’s July 25, 2021, move sacking the government and suspending parliament, despite the arrest in February of more than 20 opposition, media and business figures on charges of “conspiracy against state security”.

Writer Chaima Issa and former minister Lazhar Akremi were released earlier this month but the others remain in custody despite the appeals of human rights groups.

Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, is serving a one-year prison sentence on so-called “terrorism”-related charges following his April 17 arrest.

Rights groups have condemned a “witch hunt” aimed at “repressing” freedom of opinion in the North African country which had been the sole democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

“Decree by decree, blow by blow, President Saied and his government have dramatically undermined respect for human rights in Tunisia since his power grab in July 2021,” Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director, Heba Morayef, said in a statement.

“In doing so, he has stripped away basic freedoms that Tunisians fought hard to earn and fostered a climate of repression and impunity.”