Tunisia: crackdown on opposition and media figures alarms rights groups

Ten public figures arrested since Saturday as President Kais Saied pursues what Amnesty calls a repression of dissent

Rights groups have expressed grave alarm at a crackdown on opposition figures and the media in Tunisia, where 10 public figures have been arrested since Saturday as President Kais Saied seemingly moves to stamp out dissent.

“We’re witnessing the increasing repression of dissent in Tunisia,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and north Africa. “Saied is using all the resources of the state to signal his absolutist agenda. Anyone who opposes him, either politically or in the media, is at risk in this witch-hunt,” said Guellali, who is based in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis.