Experts and relatives of those arrested say that the North African country is no longer an Arab Spring success story.
London, England – After the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, Tunisia experienced a brief period of democracy.
But that changed in July 2021 when President Kais Saied froze parliament and sacked the government in a dramatic move.
Since then, the North African country has seen an intense crackdown on opposition leaders, critics and activists.
Since February this year, more than 20 people, including opposition politicians, journalists and business figures, have been arrested on various charges such as “conspiracy against the security of the State” and “terrorism”.
Among those arrested are Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahdha party, its member Said Ferjani and prominent radio journalist Zied el-Heni, who many believe coined the term “Jasmine Revolution”.
While freedom of speech and the media were critical gains for Tunisians after the Arab Spring revolution led to the overthrow of then-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, activists and journalists say those freedoms are under threat under the government of Said.
People wave national flags during celebrations of the sixth anniversary of the 2011 Arab Spring revolution in Tunis, Tunisia [File: Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters]
Speaking at a London forum on post-Arab Spring Tunisia, Maha Azzam, head of Egypt’s revolutionary council, said: “Tunisians and Arabs have known nothing but tyranny for decades, except for a brief parenthesis in the Arab Spring”.
Azzam said what is happening in Tunisia is no different from other post-revolutionary countries where vested interests avoid political accountability by an oppressive regime.
“The Arab Spring was the first. It was an intifada if you will. It was an uprising, it was an incomplete revolution, but there will be other cycles as with other revolutions. It was peaceful, and I hope it stays peaceful,” he said.
Soumaya Ghannouchi, daughter of the jailed Ennahdha chief, said Saied “robbed Tunisians of their hard-won freedoms”.
“You are haunted by your sick suspicions, your power, your greed, your fear. Ghannouchi is haunting you,” he said in a message to the Tunisian president. “No matter how hard you try, you will never lock Ghannouchi up. You are the prisoner, not him.”
Soumaya added, “He [Saied] gave them [Tunisians] not only dictatorship but also poverty and state bankruptcy”.
Tunisia’s economic crisis has been exacerbated by stalled talks with the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion loan. Without a loan, the country faces a serious payment crisis.
The head of Ennahdha, Rached Ghannouchi, in Tunis [File: Hassene Dridi/AP Photo]
Opposition parties say Saied’s action against opposition leaders is politically motivated as they call for authorities to release political prisoners.
But Saied alleges that those jailed were “terrorists, criminals and traitors,” and judges who release them would be endorsing their alleged crimes.
Kaouther Ferjani, daughter of jailed politician Said Ferjani, said that when her family asked a judge why her father was in prison, the judge replied: “It was me or him.”
“My father in prison said that we have gone from the independence of the judiciary to the use and abuse of the judiciary,” he said.
