Ten local rights groups in Tunisia have condemned president Kais Saied’s leadership as it is hindering freedom of expression. They did so via a joint press conference on Saturday where they reiterated several people had been arrested including lawyers, journalists and activists.
According to 10 local rights groups at a joint press conference, freedom in Tunisia are being threatened under the rule of President Kais Saied and the authorities are using the judiciary and police to punish their opponents.
Police this month arrested 10 people, including lawyers, activists, journalists and officials of civil society groups, in what was described as a crackdown by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who called on the authorities to respect Tunisians’ right to free speech and civil liberties.
And last week thousands of lawyers took strike action after police for a second time raided the Bar Association’s headquarters and arrested two lawyers, after which the Association said one of the two had been tortured, an allegation strongly denied by the Interior Ministry.
Marking the 47th anniversary of the formation of the Tunisian Human Rights League, the 10 rights groups called at the conference in Tunis for a united front against what they called an unprecedented attack on freedoms.
Officials of the UGTT union, Human Rights League and the Bar Association said Tunisians would not accept the loss of free speech and civil rights.
Saied, who came to power following free elections in 2019 and two years later shut down the elected parliament and moved to rule by decree, says his steps aim to end years of chaos and corruption.
« But political opponents say freedoms including freedom of the press face serious threats under Saied’s rule, adding that there are four journalists in prison », Zied Dabbar, president of the national journalists syndicate, told the conference on Saturday.
