Activist Chaima Issa arrested during Tunis protest after receiving 20-year sentence, as hundreds denounce President Saied’s suppression of dissent
TUNIS: Prominent Tunisian activist Chaima Issa was arrested on Saturday during a protest against the government’s curtailment of freedoms.
Hundreds gathered in the capital to demonstrate against what many see as a growing clampdown on dissent and rights defenders.
The protest came one day after a mass appeal trial saw approximately 40 public figures, mainly critics of President Kais Saied, receive hefty sentences for plotting against the state.
Issa, a poet and political figure who received a 20-year sentence during Friday’s trial, was detained during the rally according to lawyers and witnesses.
“We were marching in the protest when a group of plainclothes officers grabbed her and pushed her inside a vehicle,” Issa’s lawyer Samir Dilou told AFP.
Dilou questioned the timing of the arrest, noting “she wasn’t going anywhere” and could have been detained at home following the verdict.
The protest was organized by Tunisia’s leading women’s rights groups, the Association of Democratic Women and Aswat Nissa.
“This protest comes amid the authorities’ systematic suppression of free speech and the free voices of activists, journalists and others,” said ATFD senior member Nadia Benhamed.
Benhamed added, “We reject the suppression of freedoms. Freedom of expression and thought is our right.”
Tunisia had emerged as the only democracy from the Arab Spring uprisings.
Since Saied’s sweeping power grab in 2021, rights groups have criticized a major rollback on freedoms.
Dozens of Saied’s critics have been prosecuted or jailed, including on terrorism-related charges and under a 2022 law prohibiting “spreading false news.”
“We won’t give up on our gains and on our freedoms,” said protester and activist Manel Othmani. “We can’t surrender the freedom of speech we’ve gained since 2011.”
Friday’s mass trial saw defendants sentenced to up to 45 years in prison for “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group.”
The European Parliament voted on Thursday calling for the release of “all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression” in Tunisia.
Saied condemned the resolution as “blatant interference,” suggesting the EU could “learn lessons from us on rights and freedoms.” – AFP
