Tunisia has been in a deep political crisis since 2021
Tunisia’s main opposition bloc called for the release of political prisoners on Wednesday, amid the North African country’s deep crisis.
Protesters from the National Salvation Front (NSF) gathered in Tunis to demand the release of critics of President Kais Saied’s policies.
According to an Anadolu reporter, protesters held photos of activists detained by the authorities, including NSF member Chaima Issa, former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh, and Republican Party Secretary-General Issam Chebbi.
Protesters also chanted anti-Tunisian presidential slogans.
“We stand in solidarity with political detainees,” Labor and Achievement Party Secretary-General Abdellatif Mekki told the protesters.
“A regime that uses arrests for accountability and fails to deal with corruption is nothing but an authoritarian regime, and the tyrannical regime is the largest incubator of corruption,” Mekki added.
The Tunisian authorities made no comment on the NSF rally.
Women Against Tyranny held a protest earlier Wednesday to demand the release of Issa and other political detainees.
Three of the NSF’s leaders are being held for “political reasons,” according to the NSF, but the Tunisian president accuses them of “conspiring against state security.”
Tunisia has been entrenched in a deep political crisis that has exacerbated the country’s economic conditions since 2021 when Saied deposed the government and dissolved parliament.
Since then, Saied has held a referendum to draft a new constitution in July 2022, as well as parliamentary elections in December.
While the Tunisian leader insists that his actions were taken to “save” the country, critics accuse him of plotting a coup.
