Tunisian police arrest prominent dissidents

(Patria) - Tunisian police arrested two prominent dissidents on Wednesday and surrounded the home of a third, as part of an escalation of repression against critics of President Kais Saied, who has labelled his opponents as traitors and criminals.

The arrests, along with others this month, have targeted some of Saied’s most prominent critics along with other politicians, judges and media figures, Reuters reported. Issam Chebbi, head of the Republican Party, was detained near a shopping mall while out with his wife, his family and lawyers told Reuters. Police later searched his home.

Chaima Issa, an activist who participated in the 2011 revolution, was arrested after police surrounded her in her car, her lawyer Samir Dilou said. Police also surrounded the home of Jawher Ben Mbarek to detain him, but the constitutional law professor was not there, his sister and lawyers said.

Speaking in a video posted online on Wednesday, Saied attacked the opposition coalition National Salvation Front, of which Ben Mbarek and Issa were leaders, along with Chebbi’s brother. He called them a “paid campaign,” adding that “Tunisia wants to get rid of these criminals.”

Saied dissolved the elected parliament in 2021 and assumed most powers, moving to rule by decree and write a new constitution, which was approved in a low-turnout referendum last year, moves his enemies call a coup. The president said the steps were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chaos, repeatedly calling his critics traitors and enemies of the state.

He also took final control of the judiciary last year. In a video posted on Wednesday, he said, “Judges must apply the law and whoever does not apply the law must take responsibility.”

While some prominent politicians have faced legal action since Saied took power, there had not been a coordinated crackdown against dissent until this month’s series of arrests, Reuters noted.