 "Chaima Issa. File Image- AP")
Tunisian authorities arrested opposition leader Chaima Issa during a protest in the capital, Tunis, on Saturday, her lawyers said, enforcing a 20-year prison sentence.
On Friday, an appeals court sentenced several opposition figures, business leaders, and lawyers to prison terms of up to 45 years, accusing them of plotting to overthrow President Kais Saied. Critics have denounced the rulings as evidence of mounting authoritarianism in the country.
Moments before her arrest, Issa told Reuters, “They will arrest me shortly. I urge Tunisians to keep protesting and resist tyranny. We are sacrificing our freedom for you.”
Issa maintained that the charges against her were politically motivated and unjust.
Massive crackdown against opposition figures
Police are also widely expected to arrest Najib Chebbi, the head of the opposition National Salvation Front, the main coalition challenging Saied.
He received a 12-year prison sentence and opposition figure Ayachi Hammami received a five-year sentence.
Forty people were charged in the case, one of the largest political prosecutions in Tunisia’s recent history. Twenty of those charged have fled abroad and were sentenced in absentia.
The sentences ranged from five to 45 years, according to a court document seen by Reuters.
Rights groups said the ruling was an escalation of Saied’s crackdown on dissent since he seized extraordinary powers in 2021. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called for the immediate annulment of the sentences.
Quick Reads
View AllCritics, journalists and activists have been jailed and independent NGOs suspended.
With inputs from agencies