Our website use cookies to improve and personalize your experience and to display advertisements (if any). Our website may also include cookies from third parties like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and Youtube. By using the website, you consent to the use of cookies.

Tunisian police storm lawyers’ headquarters and arrest another lawyer

Tunisian police storm lawyers’ headquarters and arrest another lawyer

TUNISIAN police stormed the bar association's headquarters for the second time in two days and arrested a lawyer, witnesses said, after detaining two journalists as well as another lawyer critical of the president over the weekend. A live broadcast on the media website TUNMEDIA showed videos of broken glass doors and toppled chairs while the police arrested the lawyer Mahdi Zagrouba and other lawyers screamed in the background. Zagrouba is a prominent lawyer known for his opposition to President Kais Saied. On Saturday, police stormed the building of the Tunisian Order of Lawyers and arrested Sonia Dahmani, a lawyer also known…
Read More
Tunisia detains two students over satirical song criticizing police

Tunisia detains two students over satirical song criticizing police

TAREK AMARA TUNISIAN police arrested two students over a satirical song criticizing the police, their lawyer said on Wednesday, reinforcing fears of an erosion of freedom of speech after President Kais Saied seized most powers two years ago. Youssef Chelbi and Dhia Nsir posted a clip on Tik Tok and Facebook this week showing them laughing and singing a sarcastic song criticizing the police's treatment of detainees and a drugs law. Lawyer Imen Souissi said they are facing charges of insulting others through social networks and they could face up to a year in prison if the court finds them…
Read More
Tunisia detains more dissidents amid growing crackdown

Tunisia detains more dissidents amid growing crackdown

TUNISIAN police detained two prominent dissidents and surrounded the home of a third, part of an escalating crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied, who has labelled his opponents traitors and criminals. The arrests, along with others this month, have targeted some of Saied's most important critics along with other politicians, judges and media figures. Issam Chebbi, head of the Republican Party, was detained near a shopping centre while he was out with his wife, his family and lawyers told Reuters. Police later searched his home. Chaima Issa, an activist who took part in the 2011 revolution, was detained after…
Read More
Tunisia arrests more prominent critics of president

Tunisia arrests more prominent critics of president

TAREK AMARA TUNISIAN police two prominent opponents of President Kais Saied and the head of a radio station that has broadcast criticism of the president, part of a wave of arrests targeting politicians and other critics of the government. Police raided the house of Noureddine Bhiri, a senior official in the biggest opposition party Ennahda and a prominent critic of Saied, and took him away, his lawyer Samir Dilou said by phone. "The police stormed Noureddine Bhiri's house, assaulted his wife, and arrested him," Dilou told Reuters. Authorities also raided the house of Mosaique FM head Noureddine Boutar, whose radio…
Read More
Tunisian police arrest Ghazi Chaouachi, a prominent critic of president

Tunisian police arrest Ghazi Chaouachi, a prominent critic of president

TUNISIAN police arrested Ghazi Chaouachi, the prominent critic of President Kais Saied, Ghazi's son said, the latest arrest targeting the president's opponents. About 20 policemen searched the house and arrested Ghazi, his son Elyess said. The arrest comes amid a crackdown on dissent this month that has targeted more than 12 people including opposition politicians, activists, protest organisers and a media figure as well as an influential business leader and two judges. Thomson Reuters Foundation
Read More
Tunisian police detain prominent politicians, businessman

Tunisian police detain prominent politicians, businessman

TAREK AMARA TUNISIAN police detained politicians and a prominent, politically connected businessman, their lawyers said, in a case that local media said was based on suspicion of conspiracy against state security. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrests of Khayam Turki, a former finance minister, and Kamel Ltaif, a construction magnate with close ties to successive coalition governments. Local media said that the police later arrested Abd El Hamid Jlassi, a former senior official in the Ennahda Islamist party and a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, on charges…
Read More
Riots break out in several Tunisian cities

Riots break out in several Tunisian cities

RIOTS and violent clashes between Tunisian police and protesters broke out yesterday in the capital Tunis and several other cities for the second consecutive day, as the country faces an unprecedented economic crisis. Tunisian authorities said earlier that they had arrested 240 people, mostly teenagers, after violent clashes with police in several cities overnight and during the day on Sunday. A decade on from a revolution against poverty, corruption and injustice, Tunisia has progressed towards democracy but its economic problems have worsened, with the country on the verge of bankruptcy and public services in a dire situation. The protesters made…
Read More
Tunisian police fire tear gas on protesters in southern city

Tunisian police fire tear gas on protesters in southern city

TUNISIAN police fired tear gas on protesters yesterday after hundreds tried to storm a government headquarters in the southern city of Tataouine to protest against the government's failure to provide jobs, witnesses said. Protesters are calling on the government to implement a 2017 deal to create jobs in oil companies and infrastructure projects to reduce unemployment now running at 30% in the region, one of the highest rates in Tunisia. The protests increase pressure on the government, which is suffering a political crisis from a power struggle between Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and President Kais Saied. Tunisia saw violent protests…
Read More
Tunisian man beheads woman, kills two more people in Nice church

Tunisian man beheads woman, kills two more people in Nice church

THE Tunisian suspect in yesterday’s attack in which three people were killed in Nice in southern France was not listed by Tunisian police as a suspected militant before he left the country in September, a judiciary official said. Brahim Aouissaoui, 21, left Tunisia by boat on September 14 said the official, Mohsen Dali, and arrived in Nice on Wednesday. Tunisia has opened an investigation into Aouissaoui, who was detained by French police after the attack, Dali said. Aouissaoui is originally from the village of Sidi Omar Bouhajla near Kairouan, but had lately been living in Sfax and police are questioning…
Read More
Tunisian press syndicate criticise police over night arrest

Tunisian press syndicate criticise police over night arrest

TUNISIAN police slapped and arrested a photojournalist working at night despite his having an authorisation to be out after curfew, the national press syndicate said on Wednesday amid criticism of the security forces' handling of protests. Islem Hkiri, a freelance photographer, was charged with breaking curfew and assaulting a public servant. He had earlier published pictures of police using pepper spray during a recent surge of protests in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution that inspired the "Arab spring". Protesters have decried both inequality and police abuses. Security forces have arrested more than 1,200 people including many under the…
Read More